Apple Cuts Off Chinese Supplier Over Forced Labor Allegations

Apple has stopped cooperating with the Chinese component supplier Ofilm Group. Due to suspicions that the company is involved in the government’s program to relocate the Muslim ethnic Uyghur ethnic minority from the western Chinese province of Xinjiang to other parts of China for work. Referring to an informed source, Bloomberg reported it today.

According to Bloomberg, the iPhone manufacturer terminated the contract with Ofilm a few months ago. On Tuesday, the Chinese company said it was evaluating the suspension of orders from an unnamed customer to run the company. She informed that this client would provide her with almost a quarter of her operating profit in 2019.

Ofilm supplied camera modules to iPhones.
Apple has been criticized in the past for suspected human rights abuses in its supply chain, which is predominantly in China. According to Bloomberg, it is not clear whether Apple knows whether the allegations made against Ofilm are based on the truth.

Apple, which now has the highest market value of listed companies, suspended new orders from Taiwanese company Pegatron last November. He justified this by violating labor law in the company’s Chinese factories.

Shares of Ofilm, which are traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, depreciated nearly 10 percent today. They are the lowest since August 2019.

Human rights organizations and some states have criticized China for gathering hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs in facilities that critics say are forced labor camps. According to them, violent political agitation awaits them there. China claims that the Uighurs are in re-education and training camps voluntarily. Some states and companies have introduced a ban on importing commodities from Xinjiang, such as cotton.