Blinken says genocide in Xinjiang is ongoing in report ahead of China visit
Washington DC, US Reuters Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which […]
Essay: Many global corporations will soon have to police up and down their supply chains as EU human rights “due diligence” law nears enactment
RACHEL CHAMBER and DAVID BIRCHALL, in an article first published on The Conversation, look at what the new law means…
Nearly a third of domestic workers in Malaysia in forced labour conditions – UN agency
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaReuters Nearly a third of migrant workers employed in domestic households in Malaysia are working under forced labour conditions, according to a survey released by the United Nations’ labour agency on Thursday. The International Labour Organisation identified conditions such as excessive working hours, unpaid overtime, low wages, restricted movement, and being unable to […]
Essay: Canada’s Modern Slavery Act is the start – not the end – of efforts to address the issue in supply chains
In an article first published on The Conversation, KAM PHUNG and GENEVIEVE LEBARON say the enactment of what many are calling Canada’s Modern Slavery Act is an important milestone, yet it should only be viewed as the beginning of efforts to address modern slavery in supply chains…
Essay: 10 years after the Rana Plaza factory collapse, we are no closer to fixing modern slavery
MUHAMMAD AZIZUL ISLAM, of the University of Aberdeen, looks – in an article first published on The Conversation – at what progress has been made since the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013…
UN committee urges China to dismantle forced labour systems
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters A UN committee said on Monday it was concerned about China’s treatment of its Muslim minority, including the use of forced labour against Uyghurs, in a sweeping report that adds pressure on Beijing to improve its human rights record. The findings by the group of UN-appointed independent experts follow a series of […]
South Korea says its own companies will pay to resolve forced labour dispute with Japan
Seoul, South Korea/Tokyo, Japan Reuters South Korea said on Monday that its companies would compensate people forced to work under Japan’s 1910-1945 occupation of Korea, in a bid to improve poor relations that have impeded trade and cooperation between the two countries. The proposal was welcomed in Tokyo but faced immediate backlash from some victims […]
South Korea, Japan near landmark deal on wartime labour dispute – media
Seoul, South Korea/Tokyo, Japan Reuters South Korea and Japan may be near resolving a dispute over colonial-era forced labour that has overshadowed political and trade relations between the two neighbours, with media reports saying Seoul could announce plans on Monday. The South Korean government plans to announce on Monday morning its solution to the historical […]
South Korean victims of Japan forced labour accuse Seoul of rushing compensation
Seoul, South KoreaReuters A group of South Korean victims of Japan’s wartime forced labour accused Seoul of rushing a compensation plan with Tokyo for diplomatic and political gains, amid a prolonged legal battle over the neighbours’ chequered history. The two countries have been odds over a 2018 ruling by South Korea’s Supreme Court that ordered […]
“Now or never”: Families seek closure for wartime mine disaster as Japan-Korea relations thaw
JU-MIN PARK and SAKURA MURAKAMI, of Reuters, report on a push for Japan to repatriate the remains of 2,799 Korean wartime labourers….