UN sounds alarm on China's forced labour targeting Uyghurs, minorities

UN experts have sounded an alarm on China's systematic forced labour targeting Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and Tibetans. They warn that state-run 'poverty alleviation' schemes could amount to crimes against humanity, including enslavement and forcible transfer.

United Nations human rights experts have raised a serious alarm over what they describe as the widespread and systematic use of forced labour by the Chinese state, particularly targeting Uyghur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz minorities, as well as Tibetans, across Xinjiang and several other regions of China. In a latest press release, the UN experts stated that there is a consistent pattern of state-imposed labour practices that rely on coercion and intimidation. They warned that the severity of these measures could amount to crimes against humanity, including forcible transfer and enslavement.

Systematic Forced Labour in Xinjiang

According to the experts, forced labour is being institutionalised through government programmes officially framed as "poverty alleviation through labour transfer". These schemes reportedly compel members of ethnic minority communities to accept assigned jobs within Xinjiang and in other provinces. Individuals are said to be subjected to intensive surveillance, constant monitoring and exploitative conditions, with no genuine freedom to refuse work or change employment due to the threat of punishment, arbitrary detention or other reprisals.

China's Xinjiang five-year plan for 2021-2025 projects more than 13.75 million labour transfers. UN experts noted that available evidence suggests actual figures may already exceed official projections, raising further concerns about the scale of coercion involved.

Forced Labour and Relocation in Tibet

The experts also highlighted similar practices affecting Tibetans. Programmes such as the Training and Labour Transfer Action Plan reportedly involve compulsory vocational training using military-style methods, followed by forced job placements. Estimates indicate that nearly 650,000 Tibetans were subjected to labour transfers in 2024 alone.

Beyond labour schemes, the experts expressed concern over the displacement of Tibetan communities through so-called "whole-village relocation" initiatives. These programmes allegedly manufacture consent through pressure tactics, including repeated home visits, restrictions on criticism, implicit threats of punishment and the withdrawal of essential services. Between 2000 and 2025, around 3.36 million Tibetans were affected by policies aimed at settling nomadic populations, while official data shows roughly 930,000 rural Tibetans were relocated through village-wide or individual household schemes.

Broader Strategy and International Implications

The experts warned that these labour and land transfers are part of a broader strategy to forcibly reshape the cultural identities of ethnic minorities under the guise of development. By dismantling traditional livelihoods and pushing communities into wage labour, these policies erode language, culture, religion and social cohesion, causing lasting and irreversible harm.

They also cautioned that goods produced through forced labour may be entering global supply chains via third countries, urging companies and investors to conduct rigorous human rights due diligence and calling for unrestricted access for independent UN human rights mechanisms to China.

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