Would you walk away from Omelas?
??Jinisha Bhatt
AML & Cryptocrime Investigator | Human Trafficking Trainer | Reflections on FinCrime, OSINT, Modern Day Slavery, and Blockchain Adoption.
Sep 5 marked Labour Day, which is synonymous with International Worker's Day celebrated on May 1.
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Worker's rights is an age-old affair. In April 1856, Australian stonemasons undertook a mass stoppage as part of their 8-hour workday movement. In 1886, several workers and police officers died at the Chicago Haymarket square riots during a labour demonstration when a person threw a dynamite bomb at the crowd. This event culminated a long journey?to organize labour's demands for better working conditions. At that time, an average American worker spent slightly over 60 hours, during a six-day work week at work.[1]?
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While the 8-hour work day has its origins in Felipe ll's 16th Century Spain, the contemporary 8-hour day movement, as we know it, was crafted during the Industrial Revolution by the Soviet Union.?[2]??Today, more than 160 countries celebrate?International Worker's Day.
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On the 165th?anniversary of this day, it seems that more than ever before, men, women and children are stuck in the vicious cycle of labour exploitation and have no rights of stoppage. As per a 2017 ILO report, 16M human beings were specifically exploited for labour. 7.5M of those work in construction, manufacturing, mining and hospitality; 3.8M are domestic workers; 1.7M work in agriculture; and 4.1M were exploited in state-imposed forced labour.[3]
In the financial crime industry, there are victims of forced labour stuck in scam factories in East Asia, forced to target wealthy pig butchering victims online.?[4]
In fashion, an unknown number of workers are manufacturing our garments somewhere in Asia as we speak.?This week, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights released a report concluding that “serious human rights violations” against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang may amount to crimes against humanity.?[5]?
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Among other human rights abuses, Uyghurs are forced by the Chinese government to work in factories producing goods to support China’s position as a global manufacturing hub. Given that 20% of the world’s cotton comes from the Xinjiang, there’s a high chance your cotton t-shirt was made by someone living in modern slavery.?Records show that?Anhui Huamao Textile Co. Ltd - a Xinjiang-based company sends cotton to factories throughout China, which is exported to numerous countries in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. Between 2017 and 2021, "Anhui Huamao sold cotton yarn worth more than $6 million USD to Vietnam-based textile factory Gain Lucky (Viet Nam) Limited.?Gain Lucky is a supplier to apparel companies in the U.S., Europe, and Japan".?The UFLPA(Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act) signed by Biden in Dec 2021 bans the import of goods or commodities from China produced with forced labour. Importers will be mandated to meet supply chain due diligence expectations in respect to goods originating from China.[5]??
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It has been 165 years since the first Labour Day Demonstration. I do not believe we have the time to wait for governments and enterprises to build solutions, for even one moment of exploitation is far too long. We no longer need to demonstrate at Haymarket Square to demand justice and human rights for those who have no voice.?
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We have the information and the powerful vote of our dollars. Victims of labour trafficking contribute to most products and services we consume. As a concerned citizen, when you shop for coffee, chocolate, cosmetics and especially garments, please consider spending a few minutes to check your products' origin. While it is practically impossible to trace the supply chain of a garment until blockchain-enabled solutions are ubiquitous, one can commit to renouncing brands that make no commitments to ethical labour standards.?
In a 1973 short story, author Ursula K. Le Guin poses a philosophical question. When you learn that a single child's life must be sacrificed for the bliss of an entire nation, would you walk away from that nation? Would you walk away from Omelas?
AML/CFT Compliance Professional | Crypto | Sanctions | EDD | Compliance Technology Advocate
2 年Truly thought-provoking article. Thank you for bringing to front of mind that which we might suspect or even know but still don't "see".
Passionate about AML Program Management ? Strategy ? Defi ? Risk ? Training ? Crypto-Compliance
2 年I love this and thank you for asking such insightful and hard-hitting questions! It’s the quintessential Trolley Problem and truly the heart of ethics. Ethics is such an important dimension to think about as professionals working in Compliance.