PortandTerminal.com, July 2, 2020

The US govt seized hair weaves suspected to be made in Chinese prison camps out of human hair

NEWARK, NJ – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Port of New York/Newark detained a shipment of products/accessories suspected to be made with human hair on Wednesday.

This is the second time this year that CBP has seized products from China suspected to have been made from prisoner’s hair.

Samples of Pre-stretched Innocence EZBRAND Professional Antibacterial Braid hair extensions from I&I Hair Corporation, purchased in May, are seen in this photo in New York on July 1, 2020. Wong Maye-E—AP

In this latest seizure, the products were part of a shipment of almost 13 tons of hair products s worth over $800,000 dollars.

According to the CPB, the shipment originated in Xinjiang, China, signaling potential human rights abuses of forced child labor and imprisonment.

Chinese police. Women. Child — **China is forcibly sterilizing women held in its vast network of “re-education” camps that house political and religious prisoners, survivors have claimed. Photo: Getty Images**

Xinjiang is an autonomous rural region in the northwest of China and home to roughly 11 million Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority with a distinct culture and language. Until recently, there were many more Uyghurs in Xinjiang than Han Chinese, the ethnic majority that makes up the rest of the country.

The US State Department estimates that over one million Uyghurs have been detained in a massive network of internment camps in Xinjiang, where they are reportedly “subjected to torture, cruel and inhumane treatment such as physical and sexual abuse, forced labor, and death.”

The PRC's human rights abuses in Xinjiang put businesses at risk of exposing their supply chains to forced labor and other abuses. Businesses must do their due diligence to avoid reputational, economic, and legal risks. Don’t be complicit.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) July 1, 2020