On 25 June 2025, Global Rights Compliance hosted a webinar to highlight findings of its landmark report, ‘Risk at the Source: Critical Mineral Supply Chains and State-Imposed Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region’. The report uncovers global supply chains’ exposure to minerals mined and processed in the officially called, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
GRC’s Director of Forced Labour programme and Project Director, Samir Goswami opened the session by grounding the conversation in the systematic persecution of the Uyghur people, highlighting how they are subjected to genocide and a cascade of human rights violations – including forced sterilisation, mass arbitrary detention, surveillance, and state-imposed forced labour.
He gave a snapshot of the research findings that identify:
- 77 companies operating in the critical minerals space or manufacturing critical mineral-based products in the Uyghur Region, in the critical minerals and downstream manufacturing sectors are operating in the XUAR and are at risk of participating in forced labour programmes in the titanium, lithium, beryllium, and magnesium industries.
- 15 companies have been sourcing directly from XUAR-based entities in the past two years.
- 68 downstream customers have connections with Chinese suppliers with operations in the XUAR; and
- 18 parent companies may be sourcing inputs from their subsidiaries in the XUAR.
The webinar kicked off with a meaningful contribution from Yalkun Uluyol, China Researcher at Human Rights Watch who delivered a contextual overview of the systematic human rights abuses faced by the 13 million Uyghur and other Turkic peoples living in what is officially called the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Yalkun outlined how the Chinese government’s Strike Hard Campaign, launched in late 2016, triggered mass detentions and the establishment of a vast network of internment camps and so-called “re-education facilities.” This form of state-imposed forced labour is not limited to camps, but also encompasses prison labour, industrial parks, and government-run labour transfer schemes. With an estimated 3 million individuals subjected to labour transfers, with both public and private enterprises operating under these labour coercive labour regimes, within and beyond the region.
Yalkun highlighted that
“the Chinese government incentivises enterprises to move to the Uyghur Region because of cheap labour and low environmental standards”,
adding that
“state-imposed forced labour is an extreme and severe form of forced labour […] and it is critical in evaluating and addressing overall systematic abuses in the Uyghur Region”.
Caroline T. Dale, Principal Researcher at Global Rights Compliance provided a detailed overview of the research, based on public shipping records and open-source investigation methods, uncovering alarming concentrations of critical mineral processing in China, specifically in the Uyghur Region.
- Beryllium: Used in oil and gas, aviation, space, electronics, and defence, Beryllium is processed primarily in the PRC, the United States and Kazakhstan. China accounts for 21% of global production, with 11% concentrated in the Uyghur Region.
- Lithium: Experiencing a revival due to exploration investments and demand for lithium-ion batteries – common in e-bikes, scooters, and consumer electronics – the industry now poses significant risks of forced labour exposure at the raw material level.
- Magnesium: The PRC produces 92% of global raw magnesium and controls nearly all smelter magnesium production. Magnesium is essential in the automotive sector, found in everything from car tires and steering wheels to fertilisers.
- Titanium and Titanium Dioxide: China is the leading global producer and consumer, with surplus production feeding large-scale exports. These minerals are used in paint, coatings, ceramics, and cookware, with links stretching from personal vehicles to iconic landmarks like the London Eye.
“I see minerals everywhere – there is this real position that consumers have been put in of potential exposure between their coffee cup in the morning, the paint that they put on their house in the afternoon, and the car that they drive home at night.”
Because of this widespread exposure, it is essential for consumers, governments, and industry to implement methods that trace materials all the way back to their raw materials/sources.
The session finished with Rahima Mahmut, Executive Director at Stop Uyghur Genocide, delivering an urgent call to action, highlighting that we are “far past the point of awareness.” The evidence of state-imposed forced labour is overwhelming, and the moral imperative for accountability is clear.
Rahima shared key advocacy goals after years of campaigning in the UK:
- Ban imports of goods linked to Uyghur forced labour – including critical minerals.
- Enforce a legal presumption of risk for all goods from the Uyghur Region unless proven otherwise.
- Pass mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence laws with real enforcement mechanisms.
- Implement public procurement policies to sever ties with complicit companies.
- Establish an independent monitoring body with powers to investigate, audit, and penalise corporate violations. In closing, Rahima stressed that,
In closing, Rahima stressed that,
“clean energy must also mean clean ethics […] help us build pressure that cannot be ignored.”
In case you missed the live webinar or want to watch it again, you can access the full session anytime on GRC’s YouTube channel.