Selling clothes online: Americans call for an investigation into Shein

BET À DAY

A group of US lawmakers has asked the Wall Street constable to demand an independent investigation into Shein, a Chinese online clothing retailer, and the work of Uyghurs if it ever listed in New York .

Founded in 2008 in China and currently based in Singapore, Shein has become one of the symbols of very inexpensive fashion.

“Although Shein claims that its products do not use forced Uyghur labor and that they work with third parties to audit their facilities, experts say these types of audits are easily manipulated or tampered with under pressure from authorities. “, write the parliamentarians, Democrats and Republicans, in a letter sent Monday to the agency supervising the stock markets (SEC).

Chinese authorities are accused by Western countries of having massively locked up members of the Uyghur Muslim minority in re-education camps, after bloody attacks in the Xinjiang region.

Moreover, big names in the textile industry are regularly criticized for profiting from the exploitation of Uyghurs in cotton fields, workshops and factories in this region.

Also if rumors of a possible arrival of Shein on the New York Stock Exchange by the end of the year were confirmed, and considering the “credible allegations of use of underpaid and forced labor”, the SEC must require that a firm independent verifies that the group does not use forced Uyghur labor, ask the 24 parliamentarians who signed the letter.

Being listed on Wall Street “is a privilege” and “foreign companies that wish to do so must demonstrate their commitment to human rights around the world,” they add.

Shein did not immediately respond to a request from AFP.

But the group told the BBC it had no plans to list in New York at this time and said it had “zero tolerance for forced labor”.