2,398 for the U.S., 1 for Canada: That’s the lopsided record on targeting forced labour

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December 16, 2022

A Uyghur activist raised a concern during an event in Washington, D.C., this month. It came during a discussion about a new U.S. law targeting modern slave labour.

At that think-tank gathering, people were evaluating how the law has worked and how it hasn’t since it took effect six months ago.

During the discussion, Omer Kanat pointed to one problem: U.S. trading partners. He said some are doing little to stop the trade in forced-labour goods. And he mentioned one country specifically: the one next door.

“We are now six years into an active genocide,” said Omer Kanat, director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project. “This is a state-sponsored enslavement of an entire population.”

“Even though [Canada] is obligated to enforce the ban on forced-labour goods under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.”

“We are now six years into an active genocide,” said Omer Kanat, director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project. “This is a state-sponsored enslavement of an entire population.”

Read the full article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/canada-u-s-forced-labour-scorecard-1.6686977