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An audit commissioned by Volkswagen AG (OTCPK:VLKAF) has found no indication of forced labor at its plant in China’s Xinjiang region, according to Associated Press. The Xinjiang region is on the radar due to accusations from Western governments that the Chinese government has allowed human rights violations against the Uyghur ethnic minority to take place. Notably, the U.S. government has blocked imports from Xinjiang unless it can be proven that the products were not made with forced labor.
The auditor, Loening — Human Rights and Responsible Business, conducted 40 interviews and was able to inspect the factory freely, said Markus Loening, a former German human rights commissioner who founded the consultancy.
“We could not find any indications or evidence of forced labor among the employees,” he said in remarks provided by Volkswagen (OTCPK:VLKAF) from a media briefing in Germany on Tuesday.
However, the findings are being challenged. Jim Wormington, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that the risk of reprisals against auditors and workers in Xinjiang means that “no audit can credibly claim to have investigated labor conditions at factories in the region.” He added that the summary of the audit provided by Volkswagen (OTCPK:VLKAF) made it difficult to assess its methodology and findings. The automaker did not release the full report.
The Volkswagen plant in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, is no longer assembling vehicles and functions only as a distribution hub. About 10,000 vehicles a year undergo quality checks before they are delivered to dealers in the region. The number of workers at the location has fallen to 197 from about 650 between 2015 and 2019.