A Georgia university has been touched by the international report that China was using forced labor to sew clothing, including sportswear, shipped to the U.S. market
Georgia Southern was listed as a receiver of clothing made by the Chinese company and sold through a North Carolina supplier, Badger Sportswear, which supplies colleges and schools around the U.S.
Georgia Southern spokesperson, Jennifer Wise, emailed The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, saying: “Georgia Southern was made aware of this report very recently. We have initiated a review and have asked for a review also by our licensing partner, which handles such contracts and agreements for us.”
The school made sure no Badger products are on the shelves of its stores, Wise said.
Experts and a human rights organization say that possibly as many as 1 million Uighurs, Kazakhs and others from predominantly Muslim groups are arbitrarily detained in western Chinese work camps, whose functions range from political indoctrination to forced labor.
Following the recent news media reports, Badger said that it had suspended business with Chinese supplier Hetian Taida Apparel and was investigating. A statement on its website says “one percent or less” of Badger products was sourced from Hetian Taida.
The Washington-based Workers Rights Consortium (WRC), which has agreements with many educational institutions to make sure the products they sell on campus are ethically manufactured, said that “forced labor of any kind is a severe violation of university codes of conduct.”
The AP spoke to a dozen former detainees and individuals who had friends or family in similar centers in Xinjiang who said they were given no choice but to work at factories. The Uighurs and Kazakhs, who were interviewed in exile in Kazakhstan, said that even professionals were trained to do factory work.
It’s against U.S. law to import products of forced labor.
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