For Immediate Release: Justice For All Save Uyghur Campaign Welcomes Passage of Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

December 8, 2021

For Immediate Release

Contact: Hena Zuberi 

hena@justiceforall.org

(202) 922-5878

(Washington D.C.) Justice For All applauds the passage of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in the House of Representatives. is a  historic bill to stop China benefiting from the forced labor of Uyghurs and other Turkic people in the ongoing genocide. 

“We congratulate and thank all the fellow members of the Coalition to End Forced Labor in the Uyghur Region,” said Justice For All founder Imam Malik Mujahid. 

The vote follows the Senate’s unanimous approval of a companion bill on July 15. The bill stops the exploitation of the Uyghur people and prohibits imports from occupied East Turkestan. The bill was authored and introduced by Congressman James P. McGovern (D-MA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee and Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

We urge the House and Senate to reconcile the bills and present it to President Biden so the bill can become law before the year ends.

“I urge the President to make this bill into law,” said Save Uyghur Campaign Lead Serwi Huseyin. “Americans do not want to purchase goods made by the slave labor of our Uyghur relatives. Passage of this bill by the U.S. government has long been awaited by the Uyghurs in diaspora. If this bill becomes a law, it will be considered one of the first solid steps that the U.S. government has taken after the Uyghur genocide declaration at the end of last year, thereby consolidating its stance against China’s injustices against Uyghurs. As we, Uyghurs, cheer for the passage of the Forced Uyghur Labor Prevention Act, we also eagerly hope that the U.S. passes Uyghur Human Rights Protection Act, H.R. 1630.. This bill will allow Uyghurs and other Turkic speaking nations in exile to have the privilege of faster resettlement into the U.S. as Uyghurs in exile face the threat of deportation in countries such as Turkey, Ukraine, Pakistan, Tajikistan and many other countries.” 

Currently, it is illegal to import “goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part” by forced labor into the United States. Yet, products made with forced labor are still making their way into global supply chains and our country. This bill closes loopholes and prevents these products from being exported to the United States.

“This is a strong, bipartisan bill with a simple purpose: to stop the government of China from exploiting the Uyghur people,” said Chairman McGovern. “In two months, the Chinese government will host the Winter Olympics in the middle of a genocide. We must take a clear moral position to stand with those who are suffering because of forced labor. No more business as usual. I am especially grateful to Speaker Pelosi for her longstanding and principled leadership on this issue and for getting it to the floor for a vote, and I urge the United States Senate to quickly pass this bill and get it to President Biden’s desk for his signature.”

A U.S based NGO with Consultative Status at the United Nations (Department of Global Communications), Justice for All advocates for the global strengthening of human rights, with a focuses on situations of genocide and mass atrocity, and promotes grassroots empowerment. www.justiceforall.org

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