The European Commission has announced that products manufactured with the help of forced labor may no longer be sold in the EU in the future. The focus here is particularly on China, where there have long been reports of blatant human rights violations against the Uyghur ethnic group. German companies there are also said to be profiting from the forced labor of this oppressed minority.

Manuela Ripa, Member of the European Parliament for the ÖDP (Ecological Democratic Party), welcomes the EU Commission's plans. "It was high time that this law banning forced labor was passed at European level. My party, the ÖDP, is also vehemently in favor of such a regulation. There are an estimated 25 million people worldwide who have to perform forced labor. Many of the products harvested or manufactured by them are sold in the EU. The issue is by no means limited to China. I therefore welcome the Commission's plans."

In its legislative proposal, the EU Commission refers to the definition of forced labor established by the International Labour Organization (ILO). According to this definition, forced labor includes any type of involuntary work or service that is demanded of a person under threat of punishment. However, the legislative proposal still has to be adopted by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. Manuela Ripa will work to ensure that the text is tightened up. The ÖDP politician commented: "The individual member states should be responsible for implementing the ban. However, due to the sometimes very complex supply chains in the industry, it is anything but easy for them to prove in detail that a product or parts of it were manufactured using forced labor. That is why I and my group are calling for a reversal of the burden of proof. As soon as there is a strong indication of forced labor in a product, a company should be obliged to prove compliance with human rights in the production chain or the product will be withdrawn from the market by the authorities."

The ÖDP MEP points out that a ban on products from forced labor is already in force in the USA. In order for it to become an effective means of protection against the exploitation of people in the EU as well, we need the help of civil society such as non-governmental organizations.

The time is ripe for more responsibility towards all those people who are exploited under the most degrading conditions by unscrupulous profiteers around the globe. With the right political decisions, European importers can no longer profit from such crimes against human rights: "In connection with forced labor, the import of products made from child labor must be banned as soon as possible. This would include gravestones from India." This is what Helmut Scheel, member of the federal executive of the ÖDP, is calling for.