Press Release: URAP and HRAG Submit Sanctions Recommendations After Research Reveals Companies Implicated in Uyghur Forced Labour in Seafood Industry

Today, the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP) and Human Rights Action Group formally submitted a recommendation for the implementation of targeted sanctions on seven Chinese entities connected to Canadian importers who are continuously benefitting from the products made by the use of Uyghur forced labour in the seafood industry.

The recommendation names are Yantai Sanko Fisheries, Yantai Longwin Food, The Chishan Group, Shandong Meijia Group, Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Products, The Rongsense Group and the Xinjiang Zhongtai Zhihui Modern Service Co. Ltd., to be sanctioned for their use of Uyghur forced labour and participation in gross and systematic human rights violations against Uyghurs in China.

The submission is based fully on the groundbreaking and extensive research by The Outlaw Ocean Project, finding grave scope and severity of Uyghur forced labour in the seafood industry.

Millions of Uyghurs have been relocated through labour transfers, many of whom are forced to work in seafood processing facilities. Labour transfers are an integral part of the systematic plan of detention, torture, surveillance, enslavement and persecution of Uyghurs. Given the mass culpability of the seafood industry and its close connection to Canadian markets, our submission proposes that targeting these seven Chinese entities in the seafood industry is imperative to advancing accountability and justice for the crimes committed by the Chinese Communist Party and their collaborators.

URAP and Human Rights Action Group urge the Government of Canada to mobilize against these seven Chinese entities perpetuating and profiting from the enslavement of Uyghurs. We urge the Government to leverage its tools and mechanisms, specifically the Special Economic Measures (People’s Republic of China) Regulations, which was enacted pursuant to the Special Economic Measures Act in March 2021.

By adding these seven Chinese entities to the sanctions list under the Special Economic Measures (People’s Republic of China) Regulations, the government of Canada would be sending a strong signal to Canadian importers, to the People’s Republic of China, and to the seven Chinese entities that products made using Uyghur forced labour will not be tolerated and will not be permitted to enter the Canadian market. It would also prohibit Canadians anywhere in the world from having various dealings with the sanctioned entities, with penalties of fines, jail time, or both.

As URAP sends continued, unanswered calls for government action on Uyghur forced labour, URAP Executive Director, Mehmet Tohti says, “Canada must take decisive action to combat these international human rights violations; or else Canada will effectively be a dumping ground for products made with the use of Uyghur forced labour.”

Counsels making the submission are David Matas, CM, and Sarah Teich. “There is compelling evidence that these seven Chinese entities have responsibility for gross violations of human rights committed against Uyghurs in the context of the ongoing genocide”, says Teich. “By adding these names to the sanctions list under the Special Economic Measures (People’s Republic of China) Regulation, Canada would be taking decisive action to prevent imports and other dealings with these entities and would be acting to support victims of atrocity crimes.”

For media inquiries:

Mehmet Tohti

Executive Director, URAP

613-261-8512

mehmet@urap.ca