Human rights news and archive

UK court rules against allegations that government failed to halt Xinjiang imports

The UK’s High Court has ruled against human rights campaigners that brought forward a case claiming British crime and customs authorities had failed to stop the importation of cotton from China’s Xinjiang region, which has been at the centre of allegations of forced labour. In the filing, the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and World Uyghur...

Fashion Featured

Tesco faces lawsuit from low-paid factory workers sewing F&F jeans

Tesco is facing a lawsuit over allegations that jeans from its F&F fashion range were made under forced labour conditions. The supermarket giant, which retails jeans for 16 pounds, is being sued by 130 former workers from VK Garment Factury, a Thailand-based apparel manufacturer. Allegations include working 99-hour weeks for less than 4 pounds...

Business

An Alliance of Responsible Garment Industry Representatives Calls Upon the European Parliament to Develop More Mandatory Human Rights

A comprehensive group of business and multi-stakeholder initiatives and manufacturer associations present their joint recommendations on the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. Business and multi-stakeholder initiatives from the garment and textile industry, namely amfori, Ethical Trading Initiative, Fair Wear Foundation,...

BusinessFeatured

Garment workers disclose worsening human rights issues in new report

A new report by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHHRC) has highlighted allegations of union-busting and human rights abuses against garment workers at the suppliers of a number of global fashion retailers. As part of the report, the organisation interviewed 24 trade union leaders and surveyed 124 union activists and labour activists...

BusinessFeatured

What to know about the UN’s Xinjiang human rights report

The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published a detailed report following its assessment of China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in which it said that “serious human rights violations have been committed”. The region, which produces around a fifth of the world’s cotton, has been the subject of an increasing...

Fashion Featured

UN report says it is reasonable to conclude China forced labour in Xinjiang, as H&M returns to Tmall

On the day the UN released its report of the “Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences," stating it is reasonable to conclude China forced labour among Uighur minorities, H&M went back to business on the country’s online behemoth, Tmall. The unfortunate timing for the Swedish fast fashion giant...

RetailFeatured

Myanmar's garment workers face abuse and harassment under military rule

At least 60,800 garment workers in Myanmar have experienced alleged labour and human rights abuses according to a report by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRC). Since February, when a military coup illegally gained power, Myanmar’s garment workers, of which 90 percent are women, are at the front lines of the country’s civil problems...

Business

BASF’s e3 Sustainable Cotton program joins the UN’s Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network

The largest multinational chemical production company, BASF, has announced that its e3 sustainable cotton program will co-host a series of roundtable events as a part of the Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network, an online platform hosted by the United Nations for industry stakeholders, media, governments, and UN entities with the aim of...

Fashion Featured

Nike, Patagonia named in European lawsuit as being complicit in 'forced labour' practices in Xinjiang, China

A number of internationally renowned fashion brands, including Nike, C&A and Patagonia, are being sued by the European Center for Constitutional Rights (ECCHR) as being directly or indirectly complicit in the forced labour of the Uyghur population in the Xinjiang province in China. Filed by Dutch prosecutors with support from Prakken d’Oliveira...

RetailFeatured

Inditex accused of turning a blind eye amid rising tensions in China boycott crisis

On Thursday, China, backed by the Chinese government itself, started retaliating against the Western boycott of cotton produced in the ‘Uyghur labor camps’ of Xinjiang, calling for its own boycott against international fashion companies. The boycott primarily affected Swedish retail giant H&M on Thursday, but is now also being launched against...

CultureFeatured

Western brands face China backlash over political statements

Nike was the recipient of Chinese backlash after the sporting goods giant stated it does not use cotton from China’s Xinjiang region, where currently an international human rights crisis is ensuing with the alleged forced labour camps of the Uyghur people. On Weibo, China’s most popular social media channel, a retaliation against Nike began when...

Business

H&M ban of Xinjiang cotton under criticism in China

Swedish clothing giant H&M's decision to no longer source cotton from China's Xinjiang region is drawing a backlash as the Asian country adopts an increasingly assertive stance against accusations of human rights violations. The fashion retailer's products had vanished from Chinese tech titan Alibaba's e-commerce platform Taobao on Wednesday,...