A search for “uighur” or “uighur cotton” - for the two are inextricably linked - on Google Trends shows that until last year the terms barely appeared in people’s internet searches.
This has begun to change as governments and businesses around the world grapple with increasingly alarming reports that forced labour is being used on a vast scale in China’s Xinjiang region.
In December, it emerged that China was forcing 570,000 Uighurs and other minorities to pick cotton by hand, according to the US based think-tank Center for Global Policy. China dismissed these allegations.
Days later BuzzFeed News reported the construction of 21m sq ft of factory facilities on the grounds of more than 100 detention centres in Xinjiang in the past few years, based on satellite imagery.
Around 85pc of the country’s cotton and 20pc of the global supply is produced in the vast western province with much of it quietly weaving its way into the clothes we buy. In addition, Xinjiang’s tomatoes account for a significant chunk of the world’s ketchup. Its rare-earth metals are used in millions of technology devices.
Many businesses have sought to distance themselves from the region including Marks & Spencer, which uses around 40,000 tonnes of lint cotton each year from various sources. It signed onto a call to action on human rights abuses in Xinjiang this month, saying “we can only achieve real change at scale by working with others”.
However, in a letter to MPs in November, big name brands admitted they cannot guarantee they are not profiting from the misery of the Muslim population in the region to make their wares despite their best efforts. Audits are often not a credible or reliable measure to identify the risks of forced labour.
Sweden’s H&M, the second-largest fashion retailer in the world, said that due to the complexity of the global supply chain “from farm level, via ginners, to spinners of yarn, fabric production and finally manufacturing, there is today no solution available to fully trace the origin of cotton used in final products”.
Stella McCartney, which takes pride in its sustainability credentials, warned that determining the geographic origin of certain raw materials, such as cotton, “is extremely difficult”.
Joanna Ewart-James, executive director of the anti-slavery organisation Freedom United, says: “Brands already have a responsibility to respect human rights. Challenges in achieving that point to system failures in business practice which must be addressed.”
While the mistreatment of minorities comes at a cost for the Chinese Communist Party, encompassing extensive surveillance, imprisonment and forced relocation, it has been underwritten, in part, by profits of large non-Chinese firms, think-tank Quilliam International believes. The largest market for for Xinjiang cotton is the rest of China, with 88pc of its textiles and clothing produced for domestic consumption.