-- A group of migrant workers from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has debunked the "forced labor" claims with their own experiences of working in Guangdong Province in south China.
-- Their experiences have been included in a recently published report titled "'Forced Labor' or 'Pursuit of A Better Life'? An Investigation of Xinjiang Minority Workers' Employment in Guangdong, China."
-- The report shows that the surveyed Xinjiang workers have chosen to work in Guangdong out of their free will and are generally satisfied with their work and life there.
-- The Xinjiang workers enjoy the same rights as their colleagues from the Han ethnic group in terms of wages, and their freedom of religion and rights to use their own ethnic languages are well protected.
A group of migrant workers from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has debunked the "forced labor" claims with their own experiences of working in Guangdong Province in south China.
Two Xinjiang scholars, Nilufer Gheyret and Chen Ning, both visiting research fellows at Jinan University in south China's Guangdong Province, interviewed 70 Xinjiang workers from five Guangdong-based companies. The workers are from ethnic minority groups including Uygur, Kyrgyz, Kazakh and Tajik.
Nilufer Gheyret (4th R) talks with Xinjiang migrant workers of the Uygur ethnic group during an interview at a company in south China's Guangdong Province, Sept. 17, 2020. (Photo by Chen Ning/Xinhua)
Their experiences have been included in a recently published report titled "'Forced Labor' or 'Pursuit of A Better Life'? An Investigation of Xinjiang Minority Workers' Employment in Guangdong, China."
Based on research by the Xinjiang scholars, the following are the facts about Xinjiang ethnic minority workers, which debunked the "forced labor" lies fabricated by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and groundlessly hyped up by some Western media outlets and politicians.
Lie No. 1: The ASPI report claimed that the Chinese government has facilitated the mass transfer of Uygur and other ethnic minority citizens from Xinjiang to factories across the country.
Fact check: According to the report by the Xinjiang scholars, all Xinjiang workers they interviewed have made their own choices to work away from home.
The top three reasons for them to work in Guangdong are high incomes, introduction from family members and friends, and Guangdong's good natural and social environment. The respondents opting for these reasons account for 36 percent, 24 percent and 15 percent of the total, respectively.
One of the interviewees, a Uygur worker, said he and his wife had worked in the eastern Anhui Province before landing their current jobs in Guangdong.
"We heard the income was higher in Guangdong and made up our mind to quit our jobs in Anhui and moved here," he said.
