Source: AFP Contributor / Getty
China is a leading exporter of human hair, but their practices to obtain the hair have often come under question. On Wednesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized $800,000 worth of human hair and human hair products they believe were made by prisoners inside a Chinese internment camp, Time.com reports.
The 13 ton shipment from Lop County Meixin Hair Product Co. Ltd. was seized because it is illegal to import merchandise into the US that was obtained from forced labor. All additional hair imports from the Xinjiang wholesaler will be detained at U.S ports of entry until the manufacturer can prove their merchandise was not produced with forced labor.
“The production of these goods constitutes a very serious human rights violation, and the detention order is intended to send a clear and direct message to all entities seeking to do business with the United States that illicit and inhumane practices will not be tolerated in U.S. supply chains,” said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade.
This is the second time this year, a Chinese wholesaler has faced detention orders tied to suspicions the goods were obtained in prison-settings. Victims in the concentration camps are subjected to inhumane treatment. Detainees are forced to abandon their religion and assimilate Uighurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities, Axios reports.
Former detainees say they are force to work under surveillance and attend indoctrination sessions while female victims claim they were forced to shave their hair upon admission to the camps.
A Uighur American activist, whose sister went missing in China, believes her sister is being held in a camp and wants to raise awareness around the treatment of the detainees
“This is so heartbreaking for us,” she told Time.com. “I want people to think about the slavery people are experiencing today. My sister is sitting somewhere being forced to make what, hair pieces?”
It is reported, detainees also make clothing for popular U.S. brands. U.S. journalists have not been able to enter what they call the “black factories.”
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U.S. Customs & Border Protection Seize $800,000 Shipment Of Human Hair Weaves was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
