With pressure on clothing retailers worldwide to stop remove Xinjiang cotton from their supply chains, British clothing brand Marks & Spencer has signed the call to action over Uighur forced labour. The call to action comes from a coalition of civil society organisations and labour unions who want to end abuses against Uighur people. It may be recalled that in December, BBC had revealed new evidence that China is forcing thousands of Uighurs and other minorities into hard, manual labour in the cotton fields of Xinjiang.

M&S uses around 40,000 tonnes of lint cotton annually from various sources. The coalition asks any brand sourcing apparel, textiles, yarn or cotton from the region is profiting from human rights violations, including forced labour. M&S sources cotton through businesses accredited with the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI).

In March last year, BCI suspended activities in Xinjiang, hence, no new licensed BCI cotton is sourced from the region. Nevertheless, M&S felt it was important to sign the call to action to encourage other companies to examine their supply chain.

Anti-Slavery International welcomed the move and encouraged other retailers to follow suit. "The Call to Action sets out a clear path of action for brands to follow in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and we call upon other major brands to follow suit with M&S and commit to the Call to Action urgently," the organisation's chief executive Jasmine O'Connor said in a statement.