US Customs Seizes 13-Ton Shipment Of Hair Extensions From China; Likely Sourced From Prison Camps

A 13-ton shipment of human hair extensions that has been seized by federal authorities Wednesday (July 2) at the port of Newark, New Jersey, is believed to have been sourced from Chinese prison camps.

The shipment worth over $800,000 purportedly indicates “human right abuses of forced child labor and imprisonment,” the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.

According to the statement, the shipment was seized in compliance with a June 17 Withhold Release Order requiring authorities nationwide to detain hair products manufactured by Lop County Meixin Hair Product Co. Ltd., a Chinese company accused of producing hair extensions using prison labor.

Officials believe the shipment originated in the Xinjiang region of China, an autonomous rural region notorious for running hundreds of detention centers wherein millions of Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities are detained and forced into labor by means of cruel and inhuman torture ranging from physical and sexual abuse, food deprivation, and forced injections, CNN reported.

Brenda Smith, the Executive Assistant Commissioner of the CBP Office of Trade, said in the statement the manufacturing of those products signals "very serious human rights violation."

"It is absolutely essential that American importers ensure that the integrity of their supply chain meets the humane and ethical standards expected by the American government and by American consumers,” Smith added.

According to Al Jazeera, this the second time in a year that CBP has slapped a rare detention order on shipments from China on suspicion that they have been made using forced labor for hair weaves.

China has long been under international scrutiny for facilitating the mass transfer of minority communities to factories across the country for forced labor. Several notable global companies such as Apple, BMW, Gap, Huawei, Nike, Samsung, Sony, and Volkswagen have reportedly benefited from the forced labor emanating from the Xinjiang detention centers.

“The use of forced labor is not just a serious human rights issue, but also brings about unfair competition in our global supply chains,” Smith said in the statement.

On June 17, President Trump had signed an Uyghur human rights bill aiming to punish China for its maltreatment of the minority Muslim population. However, on the same day, his former national security adviser John Bolton claimed that Trump gave Beijing a go-ahead for building the detention camps.

China has, however, denied the forced labor accusation calling it false and malicious. Chinese officials claim that the Xinxiang camps are set up to fight extremism.

In 2018 also, when similar claims about holding millions of Uyghur Muslims hostage in detention camps in the western region of Xinxiang and subjecting them to abuse were made by the United Nations, China had dismissed the allegations.