2023/12/05
A switch with the inscription 'Emergency Stop' can be seen at the train station in the morning in front of a logo at the Volkswagen headquarters.
Moritz Frankenberg/dpa
Auditors hired by German auto giant Volkswagen say they have found no evidence of forced labour at a controversial plant in the Chinese province of Xinjiang.
"We could not find any indications or evidence of forced labour among the employees," said Markus Löning from the consulting firm Löning Human Rights & Responsible Business on Tuesday in Wolfsburg when presenting a summary of his report.
Löning's company was commissioned by VW in the summer to investigate the working conditions at the site for possible human rights violations. Löning, a former politician, previously served as the German government's human rights commissioner.
The plant in Ürümqi, which opened in 2013, has been criticized for possible human rights violations in the province, which is largely inhabited by Uighurs.
According to VW, the site now only has around 197 employees, who only prepare vehicles for delivery. Car production has been discontinued at the site and the number of employees has been reduced from 650.
In order to check the working conditions, the employment contracts of all employees from the last three years and other documents were examined on site, said Löning. In addition, interviews were held with 40 employees selected by the company itself.
Two Chinese lawyers were on site to provide support, according to Löning.
"The results of the audit of the plant in Ürümqi show that no evidence of forced labour was found within the site," stated Manfred Döss, VW's chief legal officer.
"We will continue to take any indications of human rights violations very seriously in the future. If there are any suspicions or indications, we will investigate them," Döss said.
Löning, however, acknowledged that there are particular challenges for such independent investigations in China, although he said auditors were able to freely move about the site.
"The situation in China and Xinjiang and the challenges involved in collecting data for audits are well known," he said, which is why the audit was limited to working conditions within the plant itself.
"Our mandate was limited to the 197 employees of the Shanghai Volkswagen (Xinjiang) Automotive Company in Ürümqi."
Of the 197 employees, about three-quarters are Han Chinese, while 47 belong to various minorities, most of them Uighurs, according to the report.
Following public pressure, VW Group chief executive Oliver Blume announced in June that the plant would be subject to an independent audit.
The US-based investment advisory firm MSCI had previously warned VW about the site. Human rights activists have long criticized VW maintaining the plant, whose contract runs until at least 2029.
Right groups accuse the central government in Beijing of persecuting the Muslim Uighur minority. Several Western countries have imposed sanctions over the alleged abuses.
Volkswagen has denied that there could be human rights violations or forced labour at the site.
© Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
businessvw
Auditors hired by German auto giant Volkswagen say they have found no evidence of forced labour at a controversial plant in the Chinese province of Xinjiang.
"We could not find any indications or evidence of forced labour among the employees," said Markus Löning from the consulting firm Löning Human Rights & Responsible Business on Tuesday in Wolfsburg when presenting a summary of his report.
Löning's company was commissioned by VW in the summer to investigate the working conditions at the site for possible human rights violations. Löning, a former politician, previously served as the German government's human rights commissioner.
The plant in Ürümqi, which opened in 2013, has been criticized for possible human rights violations in the province, which is largely inhabited by Uighurs.
According to VW, the site now only has around 197 employees, who only prepare vehicles for delivery. Car production has been discontinued at the site and the number of employees has been reduced from 650.
In order to check the working conditions, the employment contracts of all employees from the last three years and other documents were examined on site, said Löning. In addition, interviews were held with 40 employees selected by the company itself.
Two Chinese lawyers were on site to provide support, according to Löning.
"The results of the audit of the plant in Ürümqi show that no evidence of forced labour was found within the site," stated Manfred Döss, VW's chief legal officer.
"We will continue to take any indications of human rights violations very seriously in the future. If there are any suspicions or indications, we will investigate them," Döss said.
Löning, however, acknowledged that there are particular challenges for such independent investigations in China, although he said auditors were able to freely move about the site.
"The situation in China and Xinjiang and the challenges involved in collecting data for audits are well known," he said, which is why the audit was limited to working conditions within the plant itself.
"Our mandate was limited to the 197 employees of the Shanghai Volkswagen (Xinjiang) Automotive Company in Ürümqi."
Of the 197 employees, about three-quarters are Han Chinese, while 47 belong to various minorities, most of them Uighurs, according to the report.
Following public pressure, VW Group chief executive Oliver Blume announced in June that the plant would be subject to an independent audit.
The US-based investment advisory firm MSCI had previously warned VW about the site. Human rights activists have long criticized VW maintaining the plant, whose contract runs until at least 2029.
Right groups accuse the central government in Beijing of persecuting the Muslim Uighur minority. Several Western countries have imposed sanctions over the alleged abuses.
Volkswagen has denied that there could be human rights violations or forced labour at the site.
© Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
businessvw
No comments:
Post a Comment