Latest news with #forcedlabour
Zawya
2 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Qatar threatened to cut EU LNG supplies over sustainability law, letter shows
BRUSSELS: Qatar has threatened to cut gas supplies to the European Union in response to the bloc's due diligence law on forced labour and environmental damage, a letter from Qatar to the Belgian government, seen by Reuters, showed. Qatar is the world's third-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), after the United States and Australia. It has provided between 12% and 14% of Europe's LNG since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In a letter to the Belgian government dated May 21, Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said the country was reacting to the EU's corporate sustainability due diligence directive (CSDDD), which requires larger companies operating in the EU to find and fix human rights and environmental issues in their supply chains. "Put simply, if further changes are not made to CSDDD, the State of Qatar and QatarEnergy will have no choice but to seriously consider alternative markets outside of the EU for our LNG and other products, which offer a more stable and welcoming business environment," said the letter. A spokesperson for Belgium's representation to the EU declined to comment on the letter, which was first reported by German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. The European Commission also received a letter from Qatar, dated May 13, a Commission spokesperson told Reuters, noting that EU lawmakers and countries are currently negotiating changes to the CSDDDD. "It is now for them to negotiate and adopt the substantive simplification changes proposed by the Commission," the spokesperson said. Brussels proposed changes to the CSDDD earlier this year to reduce its requirements - including by delaying its launch by a year, to mid-2028, and limiting the checks companies will have to make down their supply chains. Companies that fail to comply could face fines of up to 5% of global turnover. Qatar said the EU's changes had not gone far enough. In the letter, Kaabi said Qatar was particularly concerned about the CSDDD's requirement for companies have a climate change transition plan aligned with preventing global warming exceeding 1.5 celsius - the goal of the Paris Agreement. "Neither the State of Qatar nor QatarEnergy have any plans to achieve net zero in the near future," said the letter, which said the CSDDD undermined countries' right to set their own national contributions towards the Paris Agreement goals. In an annex to the letter, also seen by Reuters, Qatar proposed removing the section of CSDDD which includes the requirement for climate transition plans. Kaabi is also chief executive of QatarEnergy. Qatar Energy gas has long-term supply contracts with major European companies, including Shell, TotalEnergies and ENI. (Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by David Holmes)
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
North Korean youths face forced labor for 'South Korean' dialect
Four North Korean youths could face a year in brutal forced labour camps after reportedly being arrested for 'talking like South Koreans'. The group, all in their twenties, were arrested in Chongjin, the country's third largest city, after being reported for mimicking lines from South Korean films. State security authorities were tipped off by a local residents who had overheard the four. The young adults are currently being questioned by Chongjin's Ministry of State Security and could be sentenced to a year in Kim Jong-un 's cruel labour camps, according to Daily NK. North Korea has increasingly cracked down on what it claims are South Korean influences in recent years. Kim Jong-un has previously described K-pop as a 'vicious cancer ' while they have targeted other slang words. A 2020 law made the distribution of South Korean programmes punishable by death, while those watching it could face 15 years in a prison camp. A year later the brutal regime passed a law, Article 41 of North Korea's Youth Education Guarantee Act, which banned young people from speaking or writing 'in odd speech patterns that are not our own.' The use of 'non-socialist' language is also prohibited but South Korean slang is thought to be quietly spreading among young people. 'These days, young people are careful to avoid South Korean speech during official activities because they know about the crackdowns, but when they're with friends, they use it without hesitation—mimicking lines from South Korean movies and shows,' a source told Daily NK. People's phones and messages are being searched for South Korean slang, according to a report from South Korea's Unification Ministry based on the testimony of hundreds of defectors. Searches of homes have also increased since 2021, with authorities looking for signs of outside culture. Meanwhile, last year, footage emerged of two teenage boys being sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for watching K-dramas. The rare footage showed two 16-year-old boys being handcuffed by uniformed officers in front of hundreds of students at an outdoor stadium at an unknown location. The youngsters were arrested for not 'deeply reflecting on their mistakes' after they were caught watching South Korean television, which is banned in the North along with K-pop music. Minors who broke the law would be sent to youth labour camps in the past, and generally the punishment would be for less than five years. Footage from inside the hermit nation is rare as Kim Jong Un forbids the release of any video and photos of life in the country from being shown to the outside world.
The Independent
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Britain risks being ‘dumping ground' for forced labour goods, MPs warn
From 'Italian' tomato puree to solar panels, Britain risks becoming a ' dumping ground ' for goods made with Chinese forced labour, Parliament 's human rights watchdog has warned. The products are linked to forced labour in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where thousands are made to work under threat and guard. These goods then enter UK supermarkets and energy firms. The new report, from parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR), found that the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the key framework governing forced labour, has no 'enforceable legislation' to actually stop such products entering the UK market. Unlike Westminster, key markets like the European Union and the United States have stronger laws to enforce bans on forced labour. This means that the goods are more likely to come to the UK. 'We are the weakest protected now in Europe,' former Conservative party leader and current co-chair of Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) Sir Iain Duncan Smith told The Independent. 'People like Ed Miliband [Energy and Net Zero Secretary] are desperate for cheaper product and they don't want to have to have it slowed up or inaccessible.' 'Such is your desperation to get product in that you don't care what else you're going to attract.' The EU takes an enhanced due diligence approach, and the US takes a hardline approach where parts or goods made in Xinjiang are assumed to be made with forced labour unless proven otherwise. The cross-party group called on ministers to put in place the necessary due diligence and penalties to establish legal duty rather than the existing 'voluntary approach'. It said the government needed to determine who is responsible for preventing the import of tainted goods and what happens if they are confiscated. 'The UK's lack of equivalent legislation puts the UK at risk of becoming a dumping ground for goods that cannot be sold elsewhere,' the report said. But experts warn that even if ministers put these in place, due diligence is not a guarantee. 'The ability of UK companies to actually do due diligence and to police this is basically non-existent, which is why you're seeing this approach taken in the US,' Evan Fowler of IPAC, told The Independent. 'Not only has Beijing stopped publishing data that had previously been used by researchers to build a picture of what is happening, but the forced labour programme has likely been expanded,' Mr Fowler added, referencing a scheme which moves tens of thousands of people from Xinjiang to work in eastern factories. The report comes after a BBC investigation found 17 tomato products sold in UK supermarkets were likely made from tomatoes grown and picked in Xinjiang fields with forced labour. The supermarkets contested the findings. About a third of the world's tomatoes are grown in China and Xinjiang has the perfect climate for them. 'Cargo flights are permitted to bring goods directly from the capital of Xinjiang to the UK unhindered,' the JCHR said. Concerns have also been raised over base materials used to make solar panels imported into the UK - metallurgical grade silicon (MGS) and polysilicon. Xinjiang accounts for about 35 percent of the world's polysilicon and 32 percent of the world's MGS, according to a 2023 report on the Uyghur region and solar panels. In April the government passed an amendment to the Great British Energy Bill to ban forced labour in its supply chains - which drew similar criticism for its lack of due diligence or penalties. It was also criticised for not covering private solar farms, who are eligible for generous state subsidies through Contracts For Difference. 'The government seems to turn a blind eye to slave labour,' Sir Iain told The Independent. However, tracing products back to their true origin is often complicated by a lack of transparency from producers. Firms often split their supply between countries to claim tainted products go elsewhere or choose not to disclose where parts were sourced. Some constituents who ask where solar panels are sourced are falsely told they are made in Germany, Sir Iain told The Independent. 'Well, they're not made in Germany. It's just that the company producing them, they have a middle man. So that disguises where they came from. They never declare that they came from China.' China also increasingly frames due diligence as a national security threat, experts say. 'China is broadening the scope of what it considers to be national security sensitive when it comes to due diligence,' Andrew Yeh, Executive Director of the China Strategic Risks Institute, told The Independent. 'So anyone who is trying to trace which companies are involved or whether their supply chains are linked or not, are potentially crossing the Chinese government's red lines when it comes to how it thinks and defines national security.' Sir Keir Starmer's Government has sought to balance a revival of relations with Beijing in its pursuit of growth with matters of national security amid concerns about Chinese interference in Britain and human rights concerns. China has denied accusations it is subjecting the Uyghur minority to forced labour.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Britain risks being ‘dumping ground' for forced labour goods
Britain risks being a 'dumping ground' for goods linked to forced labour in countries like China unless the Government reforms its anti-slavery laws, Parliament's human rights watchdog has warned. Existing rules are failing to prevent products flown from Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of employing Uighur Muslim people against their will, ending up on UK shelves, according to a new report. In the 99-page document, MPs and peers on the influential Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) called on ministers to impose import bans on goods linked to forced labour. Mandatory human rights due diligence for UK firms and penalties for flouting the requirements should also be introduced, the cross-party group said. This would establish a legal duty for businesses to manage any risk of human rights abuse in their operations, such as by requiring suppliers to fulfil certain conditions, rather than the existing 'voluntary' approach. Key to UK laws governing forced labour is the Modern Slavery Act 2015, but the committee warned a lack of 'enforceable legislation' is leaving loopholes in the system. 'The evidence we heard demonstrates that goods produced by forced labour are being sold in the UK,' the JCHR said. 'Cargo flights are permitted to bring goods directly from the capital of Xinjiang to the UK unhindered and media investigation has provided strong evidence that tomatoes produced under forced labour conditions are used in products sold in UK supermarkets.' Britain's approach to imports has fallen behind other key markets like the EU and the US, which have introduced bans on goods linked to forced labour, according to the report. 'The UK's lack of equivalent legislation puts the UK at risk of becoming a dumping ground for goods that cannot be sold elsewhere,' it said. It recommended the Government bring in a similar measure to establish who is responsible for preventing the import of such goods and what happens if goods are confiscated. This ban should make clear that no company that uses or allows state-imposed forced labour in its supply chains can import goods to the UK, the committee said. Concerns have also been raised over the UK's free trade deal with India, where human rights groups estimate more than 11 million people are living in modern slavery. Meanwhile, more than a million people are estimated to live in modern slavery in the US, according to the same data, compiled by the International Labour Organisation and Walk Free in partnership with the UN. The JCHR said the UK could learn from the EU's policy of using 'political clauses' in its deals to promote the bloc's values, as it continues negotiations with some Gulf states amid concerns about their human rights records. It urged the Government to make it an explicit policy to include provisions concerning forced labour in future trade agreements, and to avoid entering negotiations with countries participating in state-imposed forced labour. Sir Keir Starmer's Government has sought to balance a revival of relations with Beijing in its pursuit of growth with matters of national security amid concerns about Chinese interference in Britain and human rights concerns. China has denied accusations it is subjecting the Uighur minority to forced labour. Lord David Alton, chairman of the JCHR, said its inquiry had seen 'shocking evidence' of human rights abuses in a wide range of industries at the heart of UK trade. 'Most of all, we want to see strong leadership from the Government. It's intolerable in the 21st century that we profiteer on the broken backs of slave labour, from Uighur servitude in Xinjiang to child labour in the cobalt mines of the Congo, and elsewhere,' he said. 'The Government knows (the) nature of the problem and the challenge but meaningful action has been lacking.'
CTV News
22-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Hershey, Nestle, other cocoa companies defeat appeal of child slavery lawsuit
Nestle's logo is displayed on a window in Vevey, Switzerland on Feb. 14, 2019. (Laurent Gillieron / Keystone via AP) A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected a proposed class action by eight Malian citizens who sought to hold Hershey, Nestle and five other companies liable for child labour on Ivory Coast cocoa farms. In a 3-0 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found no causal connection between the plaintiffs' forced labour and the defendants' alleged venture to obtain 'cheap cocoa harvested by enslaved children.' The plaintiffs said they were required to live in squalor and threatened with starvation if they did not work, after being approached by unfamiliar men who falsely promised paying jobs. They sued under a federal law protecting children and other victims of human trafficking and forced labour. Circuit Judge Justin Walker, however, said the plaintiffs alleged at most they worked in areas that supplied cocoa to the defendants, which buy an estimated 70% of Ivorian cocoa, rather than specific farms that supplied the cocoa. 'Is there a 'possibility' that at least some of the importers sourced cocoa from those farms? Yes,' Walker wrote. 'But is it 'plausible'? Not on this complaint.' Other defendants included privately-held Cargill, privately-held Mars, Mondelez International MDLZ.O, Barry Callebaut BARN.S and Olam International. Mali and the Ivory Coast share a border in West Africa. A trial judge ruled for the defendants in June 2022. Terry Collingsworth, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said his clients were 'extremely disappointed' and considering their legal options. 'The court rewarded the chocolate multinational defendants ... for concealing their cocoa supply chains, such that former child slaves are unable to link a specific company to the Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) farms where they were enslaved,' he said. In March 2024, the same court dismissed a similar lawsuit seeking to hold five major technology companies including Apple AAPL.O and Tesla TSLA.O liable for child labour in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Collingsworth represented the plaintiffs in the cobalt case. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New YorkEditing by Alexandra Hudson)
