13 tons of human hair seized, probably from Chinese prisoners

The situation of Muslim Uighurs in China 4:17

(CNN) –– A shipment of 13 tons of beauty products, such as extensions (also called hairpieces) suspected of having been made with human hair, was seized on Wednesday by officials of the United States Office of Customs and Border Protection (CBP , for its acronym in English) in the Port of New York / Newark.

According to the agency, the shipment originated in Xinjiang, China, pointing to possible human rights abuses through forced labor and imprisonment. The products were worth more than $ 800,000.

Xinjiang is an autonomous rural region in northwest China and home to approximately 11 million Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority with their own culture and language. Until recently, there were far more Uighurs in Xinjiang than Han Chinese, the ethnic majority of whom make up the rest of the country.

The US State Department estimates that more than one million Uighurs have been detained in a massive network of detention camps in Xinjiang, where they are allegedly "subjected to torture, cruel and inhuman treatment such as physical and sexual abuse, forced labor and death ”.

In addition to political indoctrination, former detainees told CNN that they experienced sleep deprivation, lack of food, and forced injections.

This is the second time this year that CBP has seized products from China suspected of being made from prisoners' hair.

"It is absolutely essential that American importers ensure that the integrity of their supply chain meets the human and ethical standards expected by the American government and by American consumers," said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner of the Bureau of Commerce. CBP.

"The production of these goods constitutes a very serious violation of human rights, and the arrest warrant is intended to send a clear and direct message to all entities seeking to do business with the United States that illegal practices will not be tolerated and inhumane in the US supply chain, "he completed.

China faces international scrutiny for its treatment of Uighurs, and in June President Donald Trump signed a bill that aimed to punish Beijing for its crackdown on the ethnic minority.

However, according to John Bolton's new book The Room Where It Happens , Trump told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in 2019 that he should "go ahead with building the camps." According to Bolton's version, Trump thought that was "exactly the right thing."

CBP Seizure Uigures