A group of US lawmakers has called on the Wall Street constable to demand an independent investigation into Uyghur forced labor allegations against Shein, which the Chinese clothing group denies, if it were to be listed on the New York. Founded in 2008 in China and currently based in Singapore, Shein has become one of the symbols of very inexpensive fashion.
The group is regularly accused, like other big names in textiles, of profiting from the exploitation of members of the Uyghur Muslim minority in cotton fields and workshops in the Xinjiang region. But Shein assures that he has no suppliers in this area, and has no plans to go public.
“Although Shein claims that its products do not use forced Uyghur labor and that they work with third parties to audit their facilities, experts say these types of audits are easily manipulated or tampered with under pressure from authorities. “Write the parliamentarians, Democrats and Republicans, in a letter sent Monday to the agency supervising the stock markets (SEC).
Also if the rumors of a possible arrival of Shein on the New York Stock Exchange by the end of the year are confirmed, and considering the “credible allegations of use of underpaid and forced labor”, the SEC must demand that an independent firm verify that the group does not use forced Uyghur labor, ask the 24 parliamentarians who signed the letter. Being listed on Wall Street “is a privilege” and “foreign companies wishing to do so must demonstrate their commitment to human rights around the world”, underline the American parliamentarians in their missive.
The Chinese authorities are accused by Western countries of having massively locked up Uyghurs in re-education camps, after bloody attacks in the Xinjiang region. In a message sent to AFP, Shein writes that he has “no suppliers in the Xinjiang region” but in other regions such as Brazil, southern China and Turkey.
“We take the visibility of our entire supply chain seriously and we are committed to respecting human rights and adhering to local laws in each market where we operate”, underlines the group, specifying that its suppliers must also “adhere to a strict code of conduct”. “We have zero tolerance for forced labor,” Shein also wrote. The group also has “no plans for an IPO”.
