British lawmakers have called for a UK ban on two Chinese CCTV companies.
Five members of the House of Commons - including Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats and four ex Conservative ministers, such as David Davis and Steve Baker - are demanding surveillance products from Hikvision and Dahua be prohibited to do business in the UK over their reported links to human rights abuses against the Uyghurs.
Hikvision told the BBC the allegations from “fringe groups” “demonising” while Dahua did not respond to the request for comment.
Previously, Dahua said they adhere to "all applicable local, national and international laws, regulations and conventions" and states that it "has not and never will develop solutions targeting any specific ethnic group."
Research from Big Brother Watch, a campaign group, suggests that many publicly funded institutions use technology from the firms, such as 73 per cent of councils. 57 per cent of secondary schools in England and 60 per cent of NHS trusts and so on.
These findings echo the sentiment expressed in the UK’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee report from July 2021.
It read: "Cameras made by the Chinese firm Hikvision have been deployed throughout Xinjiang, and provide the primary camera technology used in the internment camps."
According to reports - which have been denied by the Chinese government - more than a million Uyghurs and other minorities have been detained in camps that face allegations of torture, forced labour and sexual abuse.
The government responded to the report by saying they were "aware of reports that have suggested links between a number of Chinese technology companies, including Hikvision and Dahua, and human rights violations in Xinjiang" but have not followed its recommendations.
