Countries including the United States and Britain Thursday called for the International Labour Organization (ILO) to probe alleged labour abuses in China’s Xinjiang region. Australia, Canada and the EU also voiced support for the probe.

The calls follow the Committee of Expert’s 2022 report on China’s non-compliance with Convention 111, which prohibits discrimination in employment and occupation. The report was presented to the international community during the 110th session of the International Labor Conference.

China has previously faced international condemnation regarding China’s alleged state-led detention centers for Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region. China was slapped with sanctions and trade restrictions after various reports showed evidence of political reeducation, forced labor, torture and forced sterilization in the detention centers.

The US Representative to the UN Ambassador Sheba Crocker stated that:

The United States shares the Committee of Experts’s “deep concern” regarding the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) policies towards Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang, Specifically, the Committee’s observations highlight discriminatory policies that permit the arbitrary detention of members of these groups ostensibly for “reeducation.”

Croker urged China to accept the investigation and provide full, unhindered access to investigators. Croker called for China to provide meaningful, unrestricted and unsupervised access to all relevant organizations, individuals and locations involved in the Xinjiang detention system.

China continues to deny the allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang and stated in response, “China’s laws, regulations, and practices are fully in line with the principles of the Convention, which is to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in employment.”