International Lawmakers Pile Pressure on World Bank as Investments in Uyghur Forced Labour Exposed
A group of international lawmakers have written to President of the World Bank Mr David Malpass following revelations that the group had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in companies using state-sponsored forced labour in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China. The lawmakers, representing 14 countries across North America, Europe and Australia, have called on the World Bank Group to divest from the region.
A report published by the Atlantic Council has revealed that the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation has invested US$ 486 million in four companies that have directly participated in and benefitted from state-sponsored forced labour programmes in the XUAR. The companies identified have also taken part in programmes that require Uyghurs and other groups to undergo political indoctrination and state-sponsored compulsory land expropriation programmes.
The letter, a copy of which is attached, is signed by the co-chairs of the cross-party Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC). Signatories include Reinhard Buetikofer MEP, Chair of the European Parliament’s China delegation; prominent international human rights lawyer Baroness (Helena) Kennedy and Australian Labor Party Senator Kimberley Kitching.
The letter calls on the World Bank Group to divest from the XUAR, saying:
“We, as parliamentarians from across the world, call on the World Bank and the IFC to divest from companies perpetrating human rights violations in the XUAR. As a growing body of legal opinion points towards suspected Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity against the Uyghurs there can be no excuse for ignorance or inaction. The World Bank must have no part in the financing of these abuses.”
Samuel Cogolati, Belgian Green MP and IPAC Co-Chair said:
“The World Bank exists to support global development, not to finance modern slavery. There can be no further excuses. They must divest from these companies linked to forced labour abuses immediately. Investors – be they big banks or development finance institutions – can no longer turn a blind eye to the atrocities taking place in the Uyghur Region.”
Miriam Lexmann, European People’s Party MEP and IPAC Co-Chair said:
“Widespread forced labour abuses in the Uyghur Region are widely known and well documented. This case raises extremely serious concerns about the International Finance Corporation’s due diligence procedures. It is unthinkable that the world’s most recognised development finance group is bankrolling some of the worst cases of modern slavery globally.”
FULL TEXT OF LETTER BELOW
David Malpass
President of the World Bank Group
CC Makhtar Diop
Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation
16 February 2022
Dear Mr David Malpass,
We write to express our concern at revelations that the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) has invested heavily in companies perpetrating gross human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China.
A report released today by the Atlantic Council has found that the IFC has invested US$ 486 million in four companies that have directly participated in and benefitted from state-sponsored forced labour programmes in the XUAR. The companies identified have also taken part in programmes that require Uyghurs and other groups to undergo political indoctrination and state-sponsored compulsory land expropriation programmes.
These investments are not only a failure to implement basic human rights due diligence but also a failure to abide by the IFC’s own Performance Standards, which require projects to undergo rigorous monitoring of labour conditions and to uphold the rights of indigenous groups. We note with concern that the IFC continued to finance new projects in the XUAR in 2020, in spite of already widespread reports of industrial scale human rights abuses in the region.
We, as parliamentarians from across the world, call on the World Bank and the IFC to divest from companies perpetrating human rights violations in the XUAR. As a growing body of legal opinion points towards Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity against the Uyghurs there can be no excuse for ignorance or inaction. The World Bank must have no part in the financing of these abuses.
We look forward to your reply and hope that the World Bank will lead the way in ensuring that development finance institutions uphold the principles of human dignity and fundamental freedoms in all their activities.
Your sincerely,
Katarina Ammitzboll MP (Denmark)
Reinhard Buetikofer MEP (European Parliament)
Michael Brand MdB (Germany)
Representative Samuel Cogolati (Belgium)
Hon. Irwin Cotler (Canada)
Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP (United Kingdom)
Uffe Elbaek MP (Denmark)
Senator Pavel Fischer (Czechia)
Senator André Gattolin (France)
Garnett Genuis MP (Canada)
Constance Le Grip (France)
Baroness (Helena) Kennedy (United Kingdom)
Senator Kimberley Kitching (Australia)
Elisabet Lann (Sweden)
Tom van der Lee MP (Netherlands)
Miriam Lexmann MEP (European Parliament)
Senator Bob Menendez (United States)
Fabian Molina MP (Switzerland)
Simon O’Connor MP (New Zealand)
Senator James Paterson (Australia)
Senator Marco Rubio (United States)
Dovilė Šakalienė MP (Lithuania)
Sjoerd Sjoerdsma MP (Netherlands)
Louisa Wall MP (New Zealand)
Senator Barry Ward (Ireland)
Co-Chairs of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC)
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