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But how important is it to go to the Fair Trade store? After all, this is America, and we have laws regulating our imports.We know they aren't made by child labour, or forced labour. Or do we?
Recently Al Jazeera English investigative reporter Ragi Omar has been doing a series of reports on Twenty-First Century slavery. And his latest findings should send a chill down all our spines. Omar looked into the five-million strong forced labour prison camps, the Laogai, in the Peoples Republic of China. Many of these inmates are known prisoners of conscience such as Falun Gong adherents.
Officially, the prisoners make goods only for the Chinese market, because goods made by prisoners are not officially allowed into the US. In fact, forced labour is a key component in the cheap garments, toys and novelty items we purchase in American chain stores and superstores. The government, corporations and consumers alike turn a blind eye
Image by Thuany Gabriela via Flickr
Columbian president Juan Manuel Santos recently pointed out in a BBC interview that the war on drugs cannot be won in the coca plantations of Columbia nor by battling Mexican drug cartels. It can be won only in the US, from where the demand arises. And like US drug addicts whose appetites have indirectly led to forty thousand drug-war deaths in Mexico, we, the American consumers, provide the demand that perpetuates the misery of five million Chinese slaves. The government is turning a blind eye. The corporations are complicit. But if we, the consumers, open our eyes, slavery in China will end. We have the power. Let's use it. This Christmas, this Hanukkah, don't give your child, your niece or your Auntie a tainted gift.