The British government has been accused of “dragging its heels” over trade linked to forced labour.
A Chinese labour camp survivor is preparing to sue the UK’s trade secretary for allowing cotton imports from the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, where it has been alleged local minority groups such as the Uyghurs have been subjected to human rights violations.
Erbakit Otarbay has spoken out despite warnings it could put his family in danger.
His lawyer, Paul Conrathe, says it is “outrageous” that the UK government is “hiding behind manifestly inadequate legislation”. The former leader of the Conservatives, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, says the UK is “lagging behind other countries”.
Mr Otarbay, who is Chinese but ethnically Kazakh, was forced to work in a clothing factory after being arrested in Xinjiang in 2017. He has written a pre-action letter to Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, demanding she address the “ongoing failure” of the UK to impose any restrictions on cotton imports from the region.
He says: “I’m lucky I’m in a free country now. But I can’t not think about people who I left behind. I don’t know what happened to them, what kind of horrors they have been subjected to.”
Mr Otarbay was sent to a detention centre in Xinjiang after being accused of watching illegal videos on Islam and installing WhatsApp on his phone. He says he “wished he died quickly”, and was “chained and shackled” and tortured, on a number of occasions, until he passed out.
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Over 280 organisations, including the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), are also calling for all products from Xinjiang to be removed from supply chains.
They said “virtually the entire UK apparel industry” is at risk of being linked to forced labour.
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Image: Mr Otarbay says he was “chained and shackled” and tortured on a number of occasions
Ban on all cotton products from Xinjiang
Last year the US announced an import ban on all cotton products from Xinjiang; firms also have to prove any imports from the region are not produced using forced labour.
UK companies above a certain size must show they are avoiding using slavery in their supply chains. But there is currently no penalty if they fail to do so. A coordinated campaign is being launched in Ireland, where EU rules have also been criticised for not being strong enough.
Sir Iain said the UK is “very closely linked” to slave labour, and the government needs to make clear companies face “serious penalties” for not declaring where they are getting their goods from.
He said the UK “led the world” with the Modern Day Slavery Act, but “the key Achilles heel to our bill is that we need to have companies taking full responsibility for their supply chains”.
China has always denied human rights violations. The government insists that the camps – which for a long time it denied even existed – are vocational training centres and part of a programme to fight extremism.
Twenty percent of the world’s cotton is grown in Xinjiang, according to Laura Murphy, a human rights professor at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. She says not strengthening the UK import rules is “tantamount to saying we approve of forced labour products entering into our borders”.
In a statement, a government spokesperson said: “The evidence of the scale and severity of human rights violations being perpetrated in Xinjiang against Uyghur Muslims paints a truly harrowing picture which we absolutely condemn.
“The UK is absolutely committed to tackling the issue of Uyghur forced labour in supply chains and we have taken decisive action.
“Over the last year, we have introduced new guidance on the risks of doing business in Xinjiang as well as enhanced export controls, and have committed to introduce financial penalties for organisations that do not comply with modern slavery reporting requirements.”
Sir Keir Starmer has said he is prepared to put “our own troops on the ground if necessary” in Ukraine if there is a deal to end the war with Russia.
Ahead of an “emergency meeting” of European leaders on Monday, the prime minister said he was “ready and willing” to put British troops into a peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, the prime minister also said the UK was “ready to play a leading role” in Ukraine’s defence and security, by committing £3bn a year until 2030.
It comes as Emmanuel Macron rallies the likes of Sir Keir and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a hastily-arranged Paris summit to discuss Ukraine’s next steps.
The French president will look to recapture Ukraine’s future at the informal meeting, which has been swiftly put together following announcements from the United States.
It will take place as the US sends senior officials to Saudi Arabia for peace talks with Russia – which representatives from Europe have not been invited to. It is unclear if Ukrainewill take part.
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2:16
European leaders to hold meeting
A delegation from Ukraine is in Saudi Arabia to pave the way for a possible visit from Volodymyr Zelenskyy, one Ukrainian official said on Sunday.
However, less than 24 hours prior, a top Zelenskyy adviser had denied Ukraine would take part in the discussions.
“There is nothing on the negotiating table that would be worth discussing,” Mykhailo Podolyak said in a TV interview.
Image: Trump spoke to reporters on the tarmac as he arrived in Florida for the Daytona 500. Pic: Reuters
Speaking prior to attending a NASCAR event in Florida on Sunday, Donald Trump said of Mr Putin: “I think he wants to stop fighting.
“They [Russia] have a big powerful machine, you understand that. They defeated Hitler and they defeated Napoleon. They’ve been fighting a long time.”
Mr Macron’s meeting is expected to be attended by British Prime Minister Sir Keir, Germany’s Mr Scholz, Danish PM Mette Frederiksen and Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, alongside other European leaders.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and NATO chief Mark Rutte are also expected at the Paris summit.
The goal of the discussions is to “bring together all partners interested in peace and security in Europe”, a French statement said.
Image: President Zelenskyy met with US vice president JD Vance last week
Meanwhile, representatives from the Trump administration are travelling to Saudi Arabia for peace talks with Russia. The discussions are expected to begin in Riyadh on Tuesday, according to Russian newspaper Kommersant.
Mr Trump’s push for a quick way out of Russia’s war on Ukraine has stirred concern and uncertainty from European leaders.
After a recent phone call with Mr Putin, Mr Trump has – on multiple occasions – said he and the Russian president will meet soon to discuss a peace deal over Ukraine.
He has assured Mr Zelenskyy he will have a seat at the table, but it is unclear if European officials will be invited.
The Ukrainian president has previously said he will not accept any negotiations that do not include his country.
Two senior US officials are travelling to Saudi Arabia to initiate peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
Two sources familiar with the matter told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News that national security adviser Mike Waltz and special envoy Steve Witkoff are on their way to Saudi.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said there had been an agreement to begin negotiations about ending the war in Ukraine, after holding phone calls with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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Zelenskyy warns against the ‘danger’ of the Russian army
The Ukrainian president alluded to the conversations at a security conference in Munich on Saturday, suggesting Europe should play a role in the negotiations as well.
“Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement, and the same rule should apply to all of Europe,” Mr Zelenskyy said.
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“A few days ago, President Trump told me about his conversation with Putin. Not once did he mention that America needs Europe at the table. That says a lot.”
However, on Saturday night, Mr Trump’s Ukraine envoy said Europe would not have a seat at the table for Ukraine peace talks.
Earlier, Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv.
“The old days are over when America supported Europe just because it always had,” said Mr Zelenskyy.
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Following his call with President Putin, Mr Trump posted on Truth Social saying: “We both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine.”
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0:34
‘Unlikely’ Ukraine gets old borders back
Mr Trump had told White House reporters he did not see any way “that a country in Russia’s position” could allow Ukraineto join NATO and that it was unlikely Ukraine would get all of its occupied land back.
Mr Zelenskyy said the main issue was to “not allow everything to go according to Putin’s plan”.
It comes after UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told Mr Zelenskyy in recent days that Ukraine was still on an “irreversible path” to joining NATO.
A man has stabbed five people in southern Austria, including a 14-year-old boy who has died from his injuries.
The 23-year-old man attacked five passersby in Villach on Saturday afternoon, according to police.
Officers said the suspect is a Syrian national with legal residence in Austria and has been detained.
A 42-year old man, who was driving by and saw the incident from his car, drove towards the suspect and helped prevent things from getting worse, police spokesperson Rainer Dionisio told Austria’s public broadcaster ORF.
The victims were all male and aged between 14 and 32. Two were seriously injured and two sustained minor injuries, and the teenager died, police said.
Mr Dionisio said they had not yet determined a motive but were investigating the suspect’s background.
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“We have to wait until we get secure information,” he said.
The weekend attack shocked people in the city of Villach, a southern town in the province of Carinthia, which borders Italy and Slovenia.
Carinthia governor Peter Kaiser expressed his sympathy for the family of the teenage boy who was killed.
“This outrageous atrocity must be met with harsh consequences,” he said.
“I have always said with clarity and unambiguously – those who live in Carinthia, in Austria, have to respect the law and adjust to our rules and values.”
Police said it was unclear whether the suspect had been acting on his own or with other people, and are continuing to look for potential further suspects.