Washington, January 15: The US customs and border protection said on Wednesday that it will detain all tomato and cotton products that are produced in Xinjiang province, China.
The Blame- Consequences Suffered
The customs and border protection (CBP) issued the Withhold Release Order (WRO) that pretty judiciously designated the use of labour within China’s supposed “re-education” camps. The organization also alleges that China is tyrannizing the Muslim population residing in the region.
At a press meet held on Wednesday regarding the development, acting DHS Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli told the reporters that the main objective of issuing the ban is not just to interdict shipments, but actually is to ensure that they stop and never arrive – the ultimate goal is that China forsakes these dreadful practices.
In fact, this is the fourth time in 2021 itself that the CBP has issued a WRO and the second on goods initiating in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. Interestingly, this very province received issuance of eight WROs of the total 13 shelled out in 2020 – all of which stemmed from allegations pertaining to forced labour.
Evidence of Forced Act in Xinjiang province
CBP officials along with human rights authorities assess that a large number of Uighurs, Kazakhs, and several thousands of Muslims are being incarcerated in what has been dubbed as “internment camps” by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, throughout China’s Xinjiang province.
According to a recent report published by the Center for Global Policy, confirmation through evidence from the government of China via official papers and media reports specify that hundreds of thousands of Uighurs in the province of Xinjiang are forced to hand-pick cotton by means of state-mandated labour.
A report published last month by the Center for Global Policy stated that certain evidence from Chinese government documents as well as media reports do indicate that several Uighurs Muslims in Xinjiang are compelled to pick cotton with their hands via state-mandated labour.
Cotton happens to be Xinjiang’s principal export; cotton exports from China roughly amount to $9 billion industry. In the month gone by, CBP issued a WRO on Xinjian Production and Construction Corps that accounted for 17 per cent of those cotton exports.
While CBP is yet to quantify the tomato export output of Xinjiang province, according to 2019 export data, China’s overall output of tomatoes is a $10 million industry.
