Uyghur people in Xinjiang, China, are forced to labor on fishing vessels and in factories, enduring abuses that constitute genocide.
Aerial view of fishing boats. Quang Minh Nguyen. CC0.
China is the largest producer and exporter of seafood in the world. In recent years, it has dramatically expanded its maritime fishing fleet, owning or operating terminals in 95 foreign ports and sending thousands of ships out into distant waters. Laborers aboard these ships endure harsh conditions, and often are the victims of serious human rights abuses. In 2023, journalists at the Outlaw Ocean Project found that Uyghurs, a predominately Muslim ethnic minority group in China, are being forced to labor on fishing vessels and in processing plants in a series of ongoing human rights abuses characterized by the UN as genocide.
Han Chinese constitute the largest ethnic group in China, but the government recognizes 55 additional ethnicities, including Uyghurs. According to the U.S. Bureau of International Labor Affairs, the Chinese state has subjected Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities to genocide, forced labor and crimes against humanity since 2016. Uyghur people are detained in camps and forced to work in factories across the country as part of a labor transfer program. Those that are not detained often experience surveillance, religious restrictions and forced sterilizations. Aboard fishing vessels, many suffer from beriberi disease or vitamin B1 deficiency, caused by poor diet. Beriberi causes weakness, confusion, eye problems, difficulty breathing, paralysis, and if left untreated can be fatal. Workers sign contracts that stipulate heavy financial penalties if they leave prematurely, and captains refrain from bringing sick crew members to shore to avoid incurring labor costs. Men endure brutal beatings and are held captive aboard ships with no way to leave.
Uyghur demonstration in Helsinki. Amnesty Finland. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
Uyghurs live primarily in Xinjiang, a region in northwest China. In December 2021, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act was unanimously passed, banning the entry of goods produced in Xinjiang or otherwise through Uyghur forced labor into the United States. However, the Outlaw Ocean Project’s investigation found that the U.S. government continues to purchase fish from importers relying on forced Uyghur labor, violating the Act. This is in part because it is difficult to track which factories are employing Uyghurs through labor transfers; tens of thousands of workers have been forcibly relocated to areas across China, such as Shandong province, a fishing hotspot on the eastern coast.
As the world’s largest exporter, the United States relies on China for much of its fish. The investigation found that “more than 6,000 tons of seafood coming from the plants since June 2022 went to U.S. restaurant chains, grocery stores and food service companies including Walmart, Costco, Kroger and Sysco.” It included distributors like Performance Food Group, which services hundreds of thousands of colleges, hospitals, hotels and government buildings, and included everything from halibut and salmon to shrimp and fish sticks. The seafood from these plants and fleets relying on forced labor not only ends up in the U.S., but is shipped around the world to companies in Australia, the European Union, South America and the Middle East.
Japanese fisheries patrol boat and Chinese illegal fishing boat. National Personnel Authority. CC BY 4.0.
Social audits of factories and fishing vessels are conducted to safeguard against the use of forced labor, but these are announced in advance and employees are rarely candid about their situation in fear of retribution. And if audits of seafood processing plants on land are rarely effective, it is exceedingly more difficult to conduct regular audits of fishing vessels on the open sea. Thus, it is hard for seafood buyers to know if what they are purchasing has been caught by vessels using forced labor, violence or trafficking. While there are laws in place, enforcement is lacking. The U.S. government and governments abroad must double down on their efforts to end these abuses, rather than continue to be complacent.
GET INVOLVED:
Numerous nonprofit organizations are working to end the genocide against Uyghurs. You can donate to groups like Campaign for Uyghurs, the Uyghur American Association and International Support for Uyghurs. While it is ultimately up to companies and government initiatives to detect forced labor in seafood supply chains, consumers can strive to purchase ethically sourced products whenever possible. This includes buying locally from vendors who are transparent about where their fish comes from.
Kleigh Carroll
Kleigh is a student at UC Berkeley studying Geography and Journalism. She hopes to integrate her skills in these fields in pursuit of a career in journalism. She is passionate about being outside, exploring, and writing in all of its forms.