East Turkistan Government in Exile: 'Volkswagen Endangers Uyghurs in China'
(MENAFN- M. Sliwa Public Relations) WASHINGTON: Volkswagen is under fire from Uyghur activists, human rights groups, international lawmakers, and a big investor after the head of its Chinese business said he saw no sign of forced labor during a recent visit to the carmaker''s plant in East Turkistan (renamed "Xinjiang").
China has long been accused of using slave labor in factories, with reports of mass forced labor in detention camps. For over 20 years, rights groups have documented human rights abuses in East Turkistan.
"It is completely unacceptable to imprison and brutally mistreat millions of members of a single ethnic group, whether Uyghur or any other. We urge immediate international intervention against all aspects of China''s ongoing genocide." said Prime Minister Salih Hudayar of the East Turkistan Government in Exile.
The United Nations has found that there is credible evidence of torture being committed in these camps.
"Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples have suffered immensely under China''s oppressive rule since 1949. They have been interned in concentration camps, prisons, and slave labor camps, while forced sterilization and forced marriages of Turkic women to Chinese men have resulted in a steep decline in Turkic population growth rates," said Dr. Aziz Sulayman, Acting Foreign Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile.
The UN3 and multiple reports from NGOs indicate that there is considerable credible evidence that torture has occurred in these camps. One of these reports, from Amnesty International, containing evidence from over 50 victims, and a government official who had arrested Uyghurs en-masse, summarised the torture methods as including: “beatings, electric shocks, stress positions, the unlawful use of restraints (including being locked in a tiger chair), sleep deprivation, being hung from a wall, being subjected to extremely cold temperatures, and solitary confinement.”
Since the U.S. designation of the atrocities in East Turkistan as genocide in 2021, the parliaments of Canada, Netherlands, Lithuania, France, and the U.K., as well as the Parliaments of Belgium, Czech Republic, New Zealand, and the U.N. Human Rights Office have officially described it as genocide or crimes against humanity.
Tesla, Volkswagen, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and Stellantis were found to be at high risk for exposure to steel and aluminum processing factories that employ forced Uyghur labor, Business Insider reported in December 2022.
The latest news about Volkswagen''s plant in East Turkistan has sparked outrage from those calling for an end to the genocide, forced labor, and mass human rights violations of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in that region.
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