Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I would like to commend the BBC on its public broadcasting investigative work. It has exclusively revealed, as recently as yesterday, further abuses of the Uighur population in the western region of Xinjiang in China. This is further prima facieevidence of concern regarding enforced labour. The BBC was able to identify a so-called detention or overnight long-term accommodation camp that is part of a newly constructed textile factory. This region of China produces one-fifth of the world's cotton. This House unanimously supported a Private Members' motion a few short months ago, sponsored and supported by Senators Mullen and McDowell. However, the campaign of vigilance must be ongoing. It does not stop with the motion this House supported. We have to identify where this cotton is being distributed and put up for sale.

I said during that debate that a delegation from Seanad Éireann should visit China if the country has nothing to hide. In response to the BBC, China said that the story is entirely fabricated. If it is entirely fabricated, China has nothing to hide from a delegation from Seanad Éireann. They can show us this widespread abuse, as I understand it, of human rights with more than 1 million Uighurs being subjected to forced sterilisations and abortions and indoctrination to the communist message.

I ask the Seanad to stay vigilant in respect of this and to keep our eyes firmly on this. Passing that motion was an exercise in democracy and that voice had to be heard but the effort does not stop there. We must do so much more. People are normally ahead of governments so we should not wait for governments, consumers and retailers to act. We should not allow the sale of cotton from these forced labour camps.