U.S. Customs and Border Protection halted imports from four Chinese companies and a manufacturing site that were suspected of using forced labor from the Uighurs and other ethnic minorities, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security. CBP issued five withhold release orders against products made in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, where numerous reports of human-rights abuses, including forced labor and re-education, have surfaced in recent years related to Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minority groups. More recently, Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan was filmed in the region, drawing controversy around its release. The halted imports include hair products, computer parts, cotton, clothing, and all goods made by a “vocational skills and training center” that’s believed to be a re-education internment camp “providing prison labor to nearby manufacturing entities.”
“By taking this action, DHS is combating illegal and inhumane forced labor, a type of modern slavery, used to make goods that the Chinese government then tries to import into the United States,” Acting DHS Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said in a statement.
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