Day: November 23, 2021

More than a hundred international brands are “at risk” of selling cotton products related to Uyghur forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region because of the way China’s cotton industry “obscures” where the cotton actually comes from, according to a November 2021 report.

 

The report, Laundering Cotton, How Xinjiang Cotton Obscured In International Supply Chains, by the Helena Kennedy Center for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University in England, found that five major Chinese yarn and fabric suppliers are using cotton from the Uyghur region. They export their semi-finished goods to international intermediary manufacturers that ship finished cotton products to international brands all over the world, including the U.S.

 

“Through this process, we were able to map likely supply chains that connect Xinjiang cotton to over a hundred international brands,” the report states.

 

According to Laura Murphy, the lead author of the report and professor of human rights and contemporary slavery at Sheffield Hallam University in England, approximately 85% of China’s cotton is produced in Xinjiang where local authorities are accused of imposing coercive labor on Uyghur people.

 

“They [local authorities] compel people — sometimes whole villages — to relinquish the leases to their land,” Murphy told VOA. “And then they are considered ‘surplus labor’ by the government and are made more vulnerable to state-sponsored labor transfers.”

 

Over the past four years, Beijing has been accused by some human rights organizations and countries of arbitrarily detaining more than 1 million Uyghurs and some other Turkic ethnic minorities in internment camps in Xinjiang, while coercing many others into forced labor.

 

According to the report, some of the facilities where cotton was processed were “located nearby or within a prison or camp.”

 

China maintains the facilities are not internment camps but rather are “vocational training centers” where people learn new skills, and Beijing reiterates the country doesn’t impose forced labor on Uyghurs and the labor arrangements are just “poverty alleviation” programs aimed at helping Uyghurs.

 

Earlier this year, the U.S. banned the import of all cotton products from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, citing Uyghur forced labor in cotton production, along with other commodities such as tomato products.

 

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, insisted that Uyghur forced labor is “the biggest lie of the century” made by some Western countries, including the United States, to contain China’s development.

 

“The United States both creates lies and takes egregious actions based on its lies to violate international trade rules and principles of market economy,” Zhao said at a press briefing in January, adding Xinjiang affairs are China’s internal affairs that no other country has the right or privilege to interfere with.

 

Using international trade and customs data from the last two years, the authors of the report found that 52% of China’s exported cotton, yarn, and fabric is shipped to 53 intermediary manufacturers in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Mexico, where finished cotton-based apparel is supplied to 103 well-known global brands.

 

As a result, the report said, many of the international brands “may unwittingly be purchasing” goods made by Uyghur forced labor.

 

To ensure these brands are not supporting an economy of forced labor, Murphy said they need to trace the raw material sources through their supply chains.

 

“Complex supply chains can obscure the source of raw materials,” Murphy told VOA. “Sometimes suppliers may hide their sourcing or combine different sources of cotton.”

 

Some companies are actively investigating every one of their suppliers and sub-suppliers to do everything they can to ensure that no Xinjiang cotton makes it into their products, Murphy says. “Other companies would prefer simply not to know, though that’s getting more difficult with international pressure, new research, and import legislation.”

 

Murphy says there is no excuse for companies not knowing where their products come from. “If a supplier cannot tell a brand where they’re sourcing from and provide convincing evidence of that sourcing, the brand should end the relationship with that supplier.”

 

Source: Voice of America

KUALA LUMPUR— The Sultanate of Oman that celebrated its 51st National Day on Nov 18, has always maintained very friendly and cordial relations with Malaysia since the establishment of diplomatic relations back in January 1982.

 

Oman’s ambassador to Malaysia Sheikh Al-Abbas Ibrahim Hamed Al Harthi said this is the testament to Oman’s ’s effective foreign policy and diplomacy spearheaded by the sultanate’s ruler His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik.

 

Oman’s foreign policy is founded on peaceful co-existence between all peoples, neighbourliness, as well as having a reciprocal understanding for national sovereignty and international integrity.

 

“This effective policy has assisted Oman to build bridges of friendship that opens prospects for new collaboration and good relations with various countries and nations based on the firm foundation of mutual respect and friendly relations,” he said in a statement made available to Bernama.

 

On bilateral cooperation between Oman and Malaysia, Sheikh Al-Abbas said several existing and active Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) and other business deals in the process of signing would pave the way to advance and strengthen bilateral cooperation between Oman and Malaysia.

 

The MoU covered diverse areas, namely, health, higher education, science and technology, hence generating mutual collaboration and fortifying beneficial ties for both Oman and Malaysia, he said.

 

The Ambassador of Oman thanked the Government of Malaysia for its permanent assistance and support in the development of Oman-Malaysia joint cooperation in various fields that will definitely open new gateways for many more lucrative and productive opportunities for Malaysian and Omani entrepreneurs alike, which is further made feasible via Oman Air’s direct flights between Oman’s capital of Muscat and Kuala Lumpur.

 

“Our bilateral relations will certainly set new chapters of fortified business collaboration that will support the growth and progress of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) benefiting both countries,” he added.

 

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

KUALA LUMPUR— Economic sanctions meant to punish those in power in Kabul are instead freezing millions of people across Afghanistan out of the basics they need as the winter begins, said director of operations for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Dominik Stillhart.

 

Expressing his frustration over the situation that he described as a man-made suffering, Stillhart in a statement made available to Bernama on Monday said sanctions on banking services has sent the country’s economy into free-fall and holding up bilateral aid.

 

“I am livid,” he said.

 

“Municipal workers, teachers, and health staff haven’t been paid in five months. They walk up to two hours to work instead of taking public transportation. They have no money to buy food; their children go hungry, get dangerously thin, and then die,” he added.

 

More than 22 million Afghans will face crisis or emergency levels of acute hunger between November 2021 and March 2022, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report.

 

“The desperation can be seen in the huge crowds lining up in front of banks at 5 am in the hope that they can withdraw a little bit of cash,” he said.

 

Stillhart pointed out that at the paediatric intensive care unit the ICRC supports at Mirwais Regional Hospital in Kandahar, the number of children suffering from malnutrition, pneumonia and dehydration more than doubled from mid-August to September.

 

More broadly, severe and moderate global acute malnutrition is up 31 per cent around Kandahar compared with the same period in 2020.

 

“Region by region the severity of child malnutrition can be up to three times the emergency rating. This is a serious food crisis even before the worst of winter sets in,” he said.

 

Stillhart noted that the ICRC on Monday began supporting 18 regional and provincial hospitals and the 5,100 staff who work in them to help prevent total collapse of the public health system in Afghanistan.

 

This support, slated to last six months, includes funding for running costs and medical supplies, and will ensure the continuity of nearly half a million medical consultations per month.

 

“But it’s not enough. As the harsh winter sets with temperatures below freezing, the suffering will be immense as people lack the cash to heat their homes,” he said.

 

Thus, Stillhart said international community must engage with Afghanistan as it is the only way to prevent a total collapse of essential services like healthcare and education.

 

“Political considerations should not interfere with humanitarian action. A political solution must be found to avoid irreparable humanitarian consequences,” he said.

 

The ICRC also called for a clear carve-out for impartial humanitarian organisations engaged in exclusively humanitarian activities, and for its translation into domestic legislation. It is in everyone’s interest to see humanitarian activities operating smoothly in Afghanistan.

 

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia)— The Malaysian Court of Appeal has set Dec 8 for decision on former prime minister Najib Tun Razak’s appeal against his conviction and sentence for misappropriation of Malaysian Ringgit (RM) 42 million in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.

 

The Office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court (PKPMP), in a media statement, stated that the decision will be delivered at 9 am.

 

The hearing of the appeal, before a three-judge panel led by Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, lasted for 15 days and was completed last May 18. The other two judges are Has Zanah Mehat and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.

 

Najib, 68, filed an appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision on July 28 last year in sentencing him to 12 years jail and a fine of RM210 million after finding him guilty of seven charges involving criminal breach of trust (CBT), money laundering and abuse of position, involving SRC International funds, totalling RM42 million.

 

Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali sentenced Najib to 10 years in prison for each of the three CBT charges and three money laundering cases as well as 12 years in prison and a fine of RM210 million or five years in prison, for one charge of abuse of position.

 

However, the Pekan Member of Parliament only had to serve a 12-year prison sentence after the judge ordered all the prison sentences to run concurrently.

 

The court also allowed Najib’s application to stay the execution of the decision pending the disposal of his appeal, with bail of RM2 million in two sureties.

 

The case was handled by deputy public prosecutor V. Sithambaram, while lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah represented Najib.

 

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK