Human Rights

Ireland warned to stop import of cotton linked to Uyghur detention camps

Global Legal Action Network seeks European Court of Justice ruling for EU-wide ban on products of forced labour in China

Cotton picking in the County of Xinjiang, China: the region’s detention centres are closely linked with the region’s cotton industry

Irish customs officials have been told to ban the import of cotton produced by the forced labour of Uyghur Muslims in China, or face a lengthy legal battle through the European courts.

The Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), in partnership with the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), wrote to the Revenue Commissioners last Friday demanding that imports of cotton from the Xinjiang region of China be halted.

The letter said that as the basis of both ...