Uyghur group loses legal challenge over cotton imports from Chinese labour camps

The World Uyghur Congress brought a claim against the Home Secretary, HMRC and the National Crime Agency.

The case was heard by a senior judge at the Royal Courts of Justice in London (Anthony Devlin/PA) (PA Archive)

A Uyghur rights group has lost a High Court case against the UK Government over allegations British authorities have unlawfully failed to investigate cotton imports linked to forced labour camps in China.

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) brought a claim against the Home Secretary, HMRC and the National Crime Agency (NCA), challenging an alleged refusal to launch a criminal probe into the sale of goods sourced from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

The Munich-based non-governmental organisation says the north-west of China region’s factory labourers are subjected to “detention and coercion” amid concerns over human rights violations against the minority Uyghur people – allegations denied by Beijing.