Dear Madam or Sir,
Volkswagen has announced that it will have the Volkswagen SAIC plant in Urumchi, China, audited. According to media reports, chief executive officer Oliver Blume announced during a conference call with investors on June 21, 2023 that Volkswagen plans “a transparent, independent external audit to provide full transparency to the public”[1].
In general, we welcome that Volkswagen takes the risk of potential human rights violations at the Volkswagen SAIC plant seriously. However, there is serious evidence of forced labor in relation to Volkswagen’s supply chains. In December 2022, Sheffield Hallam University published a comprehensive report that extensively documented the widespread use of Uyghur forced labor in automotive supply chains, including Volkswagen suppliers[2]. Weiterlesen