In June 2022, CORE received 13 valid complaints alleging that Canadian companies were using or benefiting from Uighur forced labor, Ombudsman Sheri Meyerhoffer said at a Tuesday news conference. Eleven of those complaints concerned the clothing industry and two of those complaints concerned the mining sector.
The investigation will focus on two such complaints filed by a coalition of 28 organizations including the Uighur Rights Advocacy Project.
The two companies involved deny having violated human rights.
Controversial companies in Nike’s supply chain
Nike Canada is accused of having supply relationships with several Chinese companies that have been denounced by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute for profiting from or using forced labor from Uyghurs.
According to the complainants, the company has not taken any concrete steps to ensure that such a practice is eliminated from its supply chain. For example, they mention the company Qingdao Taekwang Shoes Co, whose main customer is Nike and employs the workers who attend evening classes for vocational training and patriotic education.
Nike affirms that its Code of Conduct and Leadership Standards place strict requirements on its suppliers regarding forced and child labor.
Nike Canada Corp has not provided a satisfactory response to all of the allegations in the complaint, the ombudsman noted in a report filed Tuesday.
“In particular, the available information is contradictory regarding Nike’s claim that Qingdao Taekwang stopped hiring new employees from Xinjiang following reports of human rights violations in 2019.”
– A quote from an excerpt from the OCRE report
Uyghurs in a DYG mine
In the case of DYG, a mineral exploration company, the complaint is based on a January 2021 press release from the company and a statement by the managing director to The Globe and Mail newspaper acknowledging that Uyghurs were working at the Hatu mine.
According to the complainants, this company-operated mine is located near detention or re-education centers.
On the face of it, the complaint contains serious allegations of a possible violation of the person’s international right not to be subjected to forced labour, OCRE writes in its report.
DYG claims that it follows all protocols for its operations and provides fair compensation to all of its workers.
“DYG’s brief response to the complaint raises questions of fact that warrant an investigation. »
– A quote from an excerpt from the OCRE report
Keep in mind that for several years there have been many voices denouncing China’s deportation to labor camps of tens of thousands of members of the Uyghur Muslim community.
The United Nations has pointed out possible “crimes against humanity” being committed in these camps.
Allegations of torture or ill-treatment practices, including forced medical treatment and poor prison conditions, are just as credible as allegations of isolated incidents of sexual and gender-based violence, concluded UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in a report released last year.
As for the other 11 complaints filed with the OCRE, the next steps in the cases will be determined in the first assessment reports published in the coming weeks, the Ombudsman said.
CORE, considered the “policeman” of Canadian companies overseas, is conducting its first such investigation. The Liberals elected Mr. Meyerhoffer to the post in 2019.