12-08-2025
Fresh fears Britain is a 'dumping ground for slave-made goods' as new air cargo routes open between China's Xinjiang region and UK
Fresh fears have been raised about Britain becoming a 'dumping ground' for slave-made goods following an expansion of air cargo routes from China 's Xinjiang region.
An analysis of air freight data showed routes are rapidly expanding between Xinjiang and more than a dozen European cities, including in the UK.
Xinjiang is where more than a million members of the Uighurs, a Muslim community, have been detained in camps and prisons, according to human rights groups.
There have also been mounting allegations of Uighurs being used as slave labour in the northwest region as part of human rights violations sanctioned by Beijing.
Research by the Uighur Human Rights Project (UHRP), found - since June last year - nine cargo companies have launch new air freight routes between Xinjiang and cities across the EU, UK and Switzerland.
Their analysis of historical cargo flight data showed the emergence of entirely new direct cargo routes - beginning last summer - between Xinjiang and London, Bournemouth and Cardiff.
The report found, as of May 2025, there are upwards of 40 flights carrying goods from Xinjiang to Europe weekly. It also stated there were several other indirect, sporadic cargo flights.
The UHRP said the new cargo routes were 'creating a direct trade corridor from a region where the Chinese government is perpetrating genocide and atrocity crimes, including forced labour'.
It added: 'The rapid expansion of air cargo routes between the Uighur region and Europe poses a growing threat to the integrity of EU and UK supply chains.'
Lord Alton, a crossbench peer and chair of Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights, told Politico he was 'deeply concerned' by the findings.
His committee has previously raised fears about Britain becoming a 'dumping ground' for goods made with slave labour and urged tougher Government action.
Luke de Pulford, of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: 'Since the US passed laws preventing Uighur slave-made products from being sold into America, Beijing has been scrambling to dump them elsewhere.
'Regrettably, despite the UK's stated desire to stamp out slavery, we are becoming a destination for slave-made goods.
'The Government must impose import restrictions on goods from Xinjiang. The risk of sourcing goods produced through forced labour is simply too high.'
Sian Lea, head of UK and European advocacy at Anti-Slavery International, said: 'We have to presume all products made in the Uighur region are made with forced labour.'
A spokesperson for China's embassy in London said: 'The allegation of 'forced labor' in Xinjiang is a 'lie of the century' concocted by anti-China elements to smear China.
They insisted 'there's no 'forced labor' in Xinjiang' and that the UHRP's report is 'completely false'.
'No amount of slander or defamation can change the fact that Xinjiang's products are high-quality and widely welcomed,' the spokesperson added.
'Nor can it obscure the region's steady economic and social progress.'
