Social audits fail to identify state-imposed forced labour: World Uyghur Congress

Munich [Germany], March 12 : The atrocities of China in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) were highlighted by 62 major human rights groups, stating that any audit will fail to comprehend the level of suppression that the Uyghur community faces in China, World Uyghur Congress stated in a press release
According to the press statement, "The 62 groups call on consultancies, auditors, certification bodies, and other service providers to immediately cease providing services in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
"Social audits and certification schemes are not designed to identify the egregious human rights abuses that are perpetrated as part of state-imposed forced labour programmes or in furtherance of them. They are not an appropriate preventive measure or evidence of compliance with forced labour regulations," the press release added.
WUC states, "In June 2023, Volkswagen announced an audit of SAIC-Volkswagen (Xinjiang) Automotive Co., Ltd., a plant operated by a subsidiary of the joint venture between Chinese state-owned SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd. and Volkswagen Group, in Urumchi, the capital of the Uyghur Region. On December 5, 2023, Volkswagen shared that Loning-Human Rights & Responsible Business GmbH (Loning), a German-based management consultancy, facilitated the audit of the plant. The audit was carried out by an unnamed Shenzhen-based law firm, which Loning accompanied on-site," the press release added.
The statement also stated that several Uyghur and human rights groups had previously condemned Volkwagen's audit, claiming that the oppressive regime in XUAR and China imposed state labour laws. There is no way to verify that any workplace in the Uyghur Region is free of forced labour or to prevent the use of forced labour, or if these workplaces are in line with human rights due diligence.
The statement underlines several points that validated the human rights audit that were missing. While ranking the flaws of the human rights audit.
The worker interviews, which are essential to the methodology of any labour or human rights investigation, cannot generate reliable information in a circumstance where workers cannot speak candidly to factory auditors about forced labour or other human rights issues without placing themselves and their families at risk of retaliation.
Further, there are widespread restrictions and repression of fundamental freedoms and of human rights defenders, and civic space has been shut down.
Uyghurs live in a constant atmosphere of fear; even the slightest infraction of the Chinese government's arbitrary rules can lead to internment, as human rights organisations and the United Nations have extensively documented.
The human rights abuses occurring in the Uyghur Region are bolstered by a pervasive, technology-enabled system of surveillance, through extensive digital and personal surveillance systems. Uyghurs are monitored around the clock, even in private.
Any audit occurring in the region could not be conducted without being surveilled by the Chinese government, and therefore, few workers will want to speak to auditors, or at least about the reality of their lived experiences, the press release stated.
The Chinese government is systematically curtailing the independence of international audit firms. Auditors have complained of extreme surveillance, including the use of facial recognition and tracking of physical and digital movements.
Multiple audit firms ceased operating in the Uyghur Region years ago due to the repressive environment and fear of reprisal for both auditors and workers.