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EXCLUSIVE: For years, human rights activists feared the Xinjiang detention facilities doubled as work camps.
For the first time, satellite photos confirm China has built acres of factories inside the compounds, facilitating forced labor on a vast scale. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alison_killing/xinjiang-camps-china-factories-forced-labor?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc
For the first time, satellite photos confirm China has built acres of factories inside the compounds, facilitating forced labor on a vast scale. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alison_killing/xinjiang-camps-china-factories-forced-labor?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc
The facilities we found cover more than 21 million square feet — nearly four times the size of the Mall of America. Collectively, these factories are larger than Ford's River Rouge Complex — which was once the largest factory complex in the world. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alison_killing/xinjiang-camps-china-factories-forced-labor?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc
Economic programs designed to move people out of poverty effectively give the government cover to conceal why a person might be far from home.
But when factories are inside internment compounds and cut off from the world, it defies belief to claim workers are there willingly.
But when factories are inside internment compounds and cut off from the world, it defies belief to claim workers are there willingly.
One former detainee we spoke with worked at a factory where clothes were made. She said she made 9 yuan — about $1.38 — in a month and worked nine-hour days. After shifts, they were required to memorize and repeat Chinese Communist Party propaganda. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alison_killing/xinjiang-camps-china-factories-forced-labor?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc
Describing the factory floor, she said scissors were chained to work stations so people couldn't harm others or themselves.
The detainee trained workers, and to reflect her status she was given a fob that could open the bathroom doors. Others had to ask for permission to go.
The detainee trained workers, and to reflect her status she was given a fob that could open the bathroom doors. Others had to ask for permission to go.
Xinjiang exports a range of products, and the US is one of the region's fastest-growing markets. But labor rights advocates argue forced labor is so widespread in the region that no company with ties there could conclude its supply chain is free from it. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alison_killing/xinjiang-camps-china-factories-forced-labor?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc
This is the latest story in @meghara and @alisonkilling's series on the Xinjiang camps. Earlier, using interviews and architectural modeling, they gave an unprecedented view of what these facilities look like. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/meghara/inside-xinjiang-detention-camp?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc
