The three companies added to the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act entity list are Xinjiang Tianmian Foundation Textile Co Ltd, Xinjiang Tianshan Wool Textile Co Ltd and Xinjiang Zhongtai Group Co Ltd, according to a DHS statement. This brings the total number of such entities on the list to 27.
"We do not tolerate companies that use forced labour, that abuse the human rights of individuals in order to make a profit," secretary of homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas said in the statement.
The three companies were designated for working with the government of Xinjiang to recruit and transport, harbour or use the forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of the region, the United States said.
The Chinese foreign ministry reportedly rejected the allegations of forced labour in Xinjiang, terming it ‘the lie of the century’.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)