The Uyghurs arrive in Chinese factory towns by train and plane, often in groups wearing matching caps or jackets. They are sent by the government to work where they are needed, whether it is molding rubber slippers, assembling automotive wiring or sorting chicken carcasses.

       A joint investigation by The New York Times, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Der Spiegel has revealed that Uyghurs are being sent out of their homeland, Xinjiang, on government work programs, more widely than previously documented.

       We found that workers are now involved in making a variety of goods for many well-known brands in factories across the country, presenting a challenge to international regulators looking to identify and purge forced labor from supply chains.

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       Uyghur workers were traced to more than 70 factories in at least five major industries.

       MOnGOLIA

       Liaoning

       Xinjiang

       Tianjin

       Factories

       Shandong

       CHINA

       Jiangsu

       Anhui

       Hubei

       NEPAL

       Chongqing

       Hunan

       Jiangxi

       Fujian

       INDIA

       Guangdong

       MYANMAR

       MOnGOLIA

       Factories

       Xinjiang

       CHINA

       NEPAL

       INDIA

       MOnGOLIA

       Liaoning

       Xinjiang

       Tianjin

       Factories

       Shandong

       CHINA

       Jiangsu

       Anhui

       Hubei

       NEPAL

       Chongqing

       Hunan

       Jiangxi

       Fujian

       INDIA

       Guangdong

       MYANMAR

       MOnGOLIA

       Liaoning

       Xinjiang

       Tianjin

       Factories

       Shandong

       CHINA

       Jiangsu

       Anhui

       Hubei

       NEPAL

       Chongqing

       Hunan

       Jiangxi

       Fujian

       INDIA

       Guangdong

       MYANMAR

       Source: The LandScan Program, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL); Satellite Imagery by Esri; OpenStreetMap (OSM); Landsat

       Graphic by Pablo Robles

       Experts estimate that tens of thousands of Uyghurs have been transferred under these programs. While the precise conditions faced by these workers remain unclear, United Nations labor experts, academics and human rights advocates assert that the programs are coercive in nature.

       “For these Uyghurs being forced and dragged out of their homes to go to work, it’s hell,” said Rahima Mahmut, a Uyghur activist in exile and executive director of Stop Uyghur Genocide, a British-based rights group.

       A poultry processing plant in Dalian, Liaoning

       A poultry processing plant in Suizhou, Hubei

       How China Uses Work to Reshape Uyghur Identity and Control a Strategic Region - The New York Times

       “Warmly send off Hotan migrant

       workers to transfer and work in

       the Chinese interior”

       “Warmly send off Hotan

       migrant workers to transfer and

       work in the Chinese interior”

       “Warmly send off Hotan

       migrant workers to

       transfer and work in the

       Chinese interior”

       A sendoff ceremony for a group of migrant workers from the city of Hotan in Xinjiang in 2020.

       Source: gov.cn

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