U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents seized a shipment of weaves and other items believed to be made from the human hair of Uighur Muslims.
Border officials recovered 13 tons of weaves and other hair products valued at more than $800,000. Brenda Smith, the executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s office of trade, said on Wednesday that the agency believes the hair was taken from Uighurs who have been forced into Chinese internment camps.
“The production of these goods constitutes a very serious human rights violation, and the detention order is intended to send a clear and direct message to all entities seeking to do business with the United States that illicit and inhumane practices will not be tolerated in US supply chains,” Smith said.
The United States has stopped one other shipment of goods from China believed to be the product of forced labor. The most recent shipment was sent from Lop County Meixin Hair Product Co Ltd. The other shipment, which was stopped in May, was sent from Hetian Haolin Hair Accessories Co Ltd. The shipment from Hetian Haolin Hair Accessories was determined to be synthetic hair products, not human hair. Both companies are located in the Xinjiang region of China, where Uighurs are being detained.
Rushan Abbas, an American Uighur activist whose sister is believed to be detained in an internment camp in China, told the Guardian that consumers need to be aware of the conditions in which the products they purchase were made.
“This is so heartbreaking for us,” she said. “I want people to think about the slavery people are experiencing today. My sister is sitting somewhere being forced to make what, hair pieces?”
