United Nations human rights experts have raised grave concerns over forced labour targeting Tibetans.
Geneva - United Nations human rights experts have raised grave concerns over what they describe as a systematic, state-imposed regime of forced labour targeting Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other ethnic minority communities across China, warning that the scale and coercive nature of these practices may amount to crimes against humanity.
In a sharply worded statement, UN experts cited persistent and credible reports showing that ethnic minorities are being coerced into labour through government-run programmes masquerading as “poverty alleviation” and “vocational training.” According to the experts, these schemes operate not only in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region but across multiple provinces, revealing a nationwide pattern of abuse rather than isolated violations.
“There is a persistent pattern of alleged State-imposed forced labour involving ethnic minorities across multiple provinces in China,” the experts warned. “In many cases, the coercive elements are so severe that they may amount to forcible transfer and/or enslavement as a crime against humanity.”
At the heart of the allegations is China’s “poverty alleviation through labour transfer” programme, under which Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other minorities are forcibly assigned to jobs both within Xinjiang and in distant regions of China. Workers are reportedly subjected to constant surveillance, ideological control, and exploitation, with no genuine freedom to refuse work or change employment.
The experts highlighted that Xinjiang’s official five-year plan (2021–2025) projected 13.75 million labour transfers, a staggering figure that human rights monitors say has already been exceeded. Fear of punishment, arbitrary detention, and reprisals against family members reportedly leaves workers with no real choice but compliance.
The UN experts also drew attention to similar coercive labour programmes targeting Tibetans, particularly under policies such as the Training and Labour Transfer Action Plan. These initiatives explicitly aim to mobilize so-called “rural surplus labourers” through military-style training and discipline, stripping individuals of autonomy and traditional livelihoods.
Estimates suggest that nearly 650,000 Tibetans were subjected to labour transfers in 2024 alone, raising alarm about the accelerating scale of these practices on the Tibetan Plateau.
Beyond labour transfers, Tibetans are also being displaced through the “whole-village relocation” programme, which the experts say relies on coercion disguised as consent. Communities reportedly face relentless pressure through repeated home visits, implicit threats of punishment, bans on dissent, and even threats to cut essential services if they resist relocation.
Between 2000 and 2025, an estimated 3.36 million Tibetans have been affected by government programmes forcing nomadic populations to abandon traditional ways of life and rebuild homes in designated settlements. Official figures acknowledge that at least 930,000 rural Tibetans have been relocated through village-wide or individual household schemes.
The UN experts warned that these labour and relocation policies are not merely economic measures but part of a broader strategy to forcibly re-engineer the cultural identities of ethnic minorities.
“The labour transfers are part of a government policy to forcibly re-engineer Uyghur, other minorities and Tibetans’ cultural identities under the guise of poverty alleviation,” the experts stated.
By uprooting communities from agriculture-based and nomadic livelihoods and pushing them into wage labour environments, the policies systematically erode language, community ties, religious practices, and cultural traditions, causing what the experts described as irreparable harm and loss.
The implications extend far beyond China’s borders. UN experts expressed serious concern that goods produced through forced labour are entering global supply chains, often indirectly via third countries. This raises urgent questions about the effectiveness of existing trade restrictions and corporate human rights safeguards.
The experts urged companies, investors, and multinational corporations sourcing from China to conduct rigorous human rights due diligence, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
“Companies must ensure that their operations and value chains are not tainted by forced labour,” the experts stressed.
Reiterating longstanding demands, the UN experts called on China to allow unfettered access for independent UN human rights mechanisms to investigate the allegations. They noted that they have previously raised these concerns directly with Chinese authorities, but meaningful transparency and accountability remain absent.
As evidence mounts and international scrutiny intensifies, the experts’ warning serves as a stark reminder: behind the rhetoric of development and poverty alleviation lies a system that many fear is reshaping lives, cultures, and identities through coercion — with consequences that may reverberate across generations.