(Minghui.org) This article gives details on slave labor products made in Ershilipu Detention Center in Xining, Qinghai Women's Forced Labor Camp, and Duoba Men's Forced Labor Camp in Qinghai Province.
Ershilipu Detention Center in Xining: Silk Products Exported to Arab Countries
In recent years, Ershilipu Detention Center has made detainees stitch small beads onto silk clothing. Most of the beads are black. The women's silk products are mainly exported to Arab countries for further manufacturing. A bundle of silk material about 20 meters long usually has to be finished in one day.
A cell that holds ten inmates is only 15 square meters, and this includes a toilet and a sink. The detainees sit on beds large enough for several people. Each grabs a portion of cloth to stitch on the beads. The beads are very small, the light is poor, and the air is foul. The sewing taxes the eyes and is very labor intensive. The detainees often work from 6:30 a.m. to 7, 8, or even 9:30 p.m.. There are only two breaks of about ten minutes for meals. New workers, young people who'd never done needlework before, those with bad vision, the elderly, and the sick were often cursed by the guards or cell heads because they worked too slowly.
Needles are necessary to do the work. However, needles are banned in the detention center. Each detainee is given one to sew with and has to return it at the end of every day. A broken needle can be exchanged for a new one. Losing a needle gets one into a lot of trouble. One day, a detainee went to use the toilet, then found his needle missing when he returned to his seat. A big commotion broke out in the cell, with accusations and curses flying everywhere. The detainees searched all the quilts, clothes, and corners and swept the floor many times. The guards forced everyone to strip and searched them several times. When the needle still was not found, the detainee who lost it was slapped in the face, forced to stand still for a long time, and not given anything to eat. No one in the entire cell was allowed to get any necessities, not even toilet paper.
On another day, one detainee went to use toilet. He stuck the needle through his shirt to avoid loosing it. The needle accidentally stabbed into his belly. He tried to pull it out, but it quickly went in deeper. He reported the problem to the guards and was taken to a police hospital for surgery. That day or the next day after the surgery, the detainee was taken back to the detention center and forced to work as usual.
Qinghai Women's Forced Labor Camp: Packing Beef Jerky and Tea
Qinghai Women's Forced Labor Camp has made detainees to do many different kinds of work in recent years. This has included: tilling unbroken soil; working on a construction site; cutting packaging for toilet paper; packaging a folk tea from the northwest; making beef jerky products for the Qinghai brand “Xibeijiao,” knitting carpets, some for export; and sewing cross-stitch products, some exported to Hong Kong.
Duoba Forced Labor Camp: Exporting Carpets and Cross-Stitch Products
Most of the male Falun Gong practitioners from Qinghai Province were sent to Duoba Forced Labor Camp, except some who were sent to the Geermu area. The slave labor included tilling unbroken soil; making fences; knitting carpets, some for export; and sewing cross-stitch products, some of which were exported to Hong Kong.
