'Former slave' takes case to stop UK firms from using Chinese cotton

Survivor of China’s forced labour camps launches legal bid to stop British shops selling clothes made from cotton harvested by Uighur slaves

  • The UK government is being urged to stop UK firms using so-called slave cotton 
  • Lawyers claim brands such as Gap UK, Moss Bross and Levi Straus use the cotton
  •  Erbakit Otarbay, who is taking the case, spent two years detained by China

A survivor of China’s forced labour camps is bringing a legal case to stop clothes made from cotton harvested by Uighur slaves being sold on British high streets.

Lawyers claim that brands including Gap UK, Moss Bros, Levi Strauss and Sports Direct may be inadvertently stocking the garments. The companies deny this.

But supporters of the case are accusing the UK Government of failing to stop imports of cotton from Xinjiang, where two million Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities are locked up in ‘re-education camps’ and made to work in appalling conditions.

Erbakit Otarbay, who is bringing the case, was detained for almost two years by Chinese authorities

About 80 per cent of all Chinese cotton is from Xinjiang and forensic researchers claim that materials from the camps are being shipped to textile factories in countries such as Vietnam and Sri Lanka used by top global brands (Pictured: A camp holding Uighur Muslims in Xinjang)

Lawyers claim that brands including Gap UK, Moss Bros, Levi Strauss and Sports Direct may be inadvertently stocking the garments. The companies deny this

About 80 per cent of all Chinese cotton is from Xinjiang and forensic researchers claim that materials from the camps are being shipped to textile factories in countries such as Vietnam and Sri Lanka used by top global brands.

Erbakit Otarbay, who is bringing the case, was detained for almost two years by Chinese authorities.


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