Apple benefits from forced Uighur labor at its iPhone supplier factories in China, according to an explosive new report

Business Insider
March 02, 2020
Isobel Asher Hamilton

Apple's suppliers in China use thousands of displaced Uighurs for labour, according to a new report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

The report is wide-ranging and focuses on a coordinated government campaign to move and displace Uighurs, a Muslim minority found mostly in Xinjiang province. The report estimates that between 2017 and 2019 some 80,000 Uighurs were forcibly transferred to work in factories across China.

The relocation programme is part of the Chinese government's broader persecution of the Uighur minority, which is predominantly Muslim. Over 1 million Uighur people in Xinjiang have been imprisoned in detention camps, and the government has launched a program paying Chinese men to sleep with Uighur women which was described as "mass rape" by one Uighur activist.

Although the report highlights that the displaced Uighur workers are present in many different companies' supply chains including Nike, BMW, and Amazon, Apple features
prominently as a case study.

ASPI found evidence of forced Uighur labor at four separate factories in Apple's supply chain including the Foxconn Zhengzhou facility - a massive factory known colloquially as "iPhone City" that employs up to 350,000 people and produces over half of the world's iPhones.

Totalling the figures from ASPI's report, at least 2,700 Uighur people have been transferred into Apple's supply chain since 2017.

Tim Cook visited a factory of one of the suppliers identified in the report in 2017. The factory
belonged to a company called O-Film and manufactured selfie cameras for the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. During his visit Cook reportedly praised O-Film for its "humane approach towards employees" in a now-deleted O-Film press release, according to ASPI.

Apple was not immediately available to comment on the report when contacted by Business
Insider, but a spokesman told the Washington Post:"Apple is dedicated to ensuring that everyone in our supply chain is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. We have not seen this report but we work closely with all oursuppliers to ensure our high standards are upheld."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ED tracks Swiss Bank A/Cs of Agusta scamster

The Poineer February 10,2019 Rakesh K Singh The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has tracked a dozen Swiss bank accounts in the name of Rajiv Saxena, who is key accused in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam. The ED has also found out accounts held by  his family members and associates where the kickbacks in the now scrapped deal were allegedly parked. Two bank accounts are in the name of Rajiv Saxena’s  associates Pankaj Jain and Sumita Jain who are also the authorised signatories. The  third is in the name of another associate Ajit Singh Bubber, but Rajiv and his family members are authorised signatories. The remaining nine accounts are largely owned and operated by Rajiv, his family members and associates. Rajiv Saxena was deported by the UAE authorities on January 30 and the ED formally arrested him the next day and a court later granted his remand to the agency. He is currently undergoing custodial interrogation by the ED. The agency had in 2017 arrested his
Read more

J&K Cricket Board Scam: Chargesheet Filed Against Farooq Abdullah, 3 Others By CBI

OUTLOOK July 16, 2018 The agency has levelled charges of criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust under the Ranbir Penal Code against Abdullah and three others. The CBI on Monday filed a chargesheet against former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah and three others in a special court in Srinagar in connection with alleged irregularities and misappropriation of funds in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association. After the fall of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP government, this is the biggest development that has taken place in the state. The National Conference has not reacted to the chargesheet so far. The agency has levelled charges of criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust under the Ranbir Penal Code against Abdullah, the then president of JKCA, Md Saleem Khan - the then general secretary, Ahsan Ahmad Mirza - the then treasuer and Bashir Ahmad Misgar, an executive in the J&K Bank. The BCCI gave Rs 112 crore t
Read more

As financial insecurity rises in urban India, so does investment in insurance

Image
Scroll.in March 13, 2020 Urban Indians are becoming less confident about their financial security. Up to 58% of them fret over financial independence post retirement, which is a 4% increase from last year. An equal share of urban Indians worry about meeting their daily medical expenses and sustaining their current lifestyle once they stop working. The findings are part of a survey published by Delhi-based Max Life Insurance in association with London-based consultancy Kantar. The firms surveyed 7,014 respondents in 25 cities, including six metros, nine tier-1 cities, and 10 tier-2 cities, between December 2019 and January 2020. Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz The trends Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz A significant share of urban Indians also say their families will have no financial support in the event of the breadwinner’s death. In such a scenario, around 57% believe the family sav
Read more