UK Government Pressed to Probe East Turkestan Cargo Flights Amid Forced Labour Concerns

The UK faces calls to investigate new cargo flights from East Turkestan due to concerns of forced labour. Since 2024, direct routes to British airports have raised alarms over potential human rights abuses in supply chains, prompting parliamentary inquiries.

The UK government is facing pressure to investigate recent cargo flights originating from East Turkestan, amid fears that these flights could be facilitating the trafficking of goods produced using forced labour. Politico reports that since the summer of 2024, three new direct air routes have connected East Turkestan to significant British airports, raising concerns over the possible inclusion of forced labour in supply chains.

David Alton, who leads the British parliament's cross-party human rights committee, expressed these worries in a letter to Home Office Minister David Hanson, urging a formal inquiry. Alton is apprehensive that the new routes may be channeling goods produced by forced labour into the UK. The routes, launched in 2024, align with the expansion of Chinese e-commerce platforms within the UK, according to Politico. Titan Airways has been operating direct flights from East Turkestan to London almost daily since December, mainly for e-commerce cargo. European Cargo has also initiated direct services to Cardiff and Bournemouth, transporting significant amounts of e-commerce goods, including a notable flight delivering 59 tons of packages to Cardiff in October.

Both Titan Airways and European Cargo claim compliance with the UK's Modern Slavery Act, which mandates companies to prevent and disclose forced labour in their supply chains. Nevertheless, the swift increase in these flights has heightened scrutiny over supply chain transparency, with calls for more thorough investigation by the UK government continuing to grow, as per Politico. The forced labour of the Uyghur population in East Turkestan involves their exploitation under perilous conditions across various industries. These actions constitute part of widespread human rights violations against the Uyghur people.

(With inputs from agencies.)