Multiple studies, including findings by the UN, uncovered evidence of Uyghurs detained by the Chinese government at camps in the Uyghur region being subjected to torture, forced labor and sexual abuse among other human rights violations. The E.U. and the U.S. have put in place legislation to stop goods made using Uyghur forced labor from being imported. Meanwhile, Politico reports multiple new direct cargo flights between the Uyghur region and London have opened since last summer. That’s leaving some lawmakers asking if the U.K. government is sending the wrong signals. Forced labor semaphore- the wrong message? The human rights abuses reported in the Uyghur region are so immense that any goods coming out of the region are assumed to be made with forced labor. However, far from blocking trade from the region, major U.K. airports have been opening trade routes between the region and London. The head of the British Parliament’s cross-party human rights committee David Alton said in a letter to the U.K. Home Office Minister David Hanson: “It’s like semaphore. It’s all dependent on the signals you send. I fear that these routes are being used to bring goods made with forced labor into the U.K.” U.K.’s Modern Slavery Act requires organizations be vigilant in keeping out forced labor. But sparked by the new trade routes, the human rights committee is looking at what needs to happen next. Alton’s committee is considering calling in cargo carriers using these routes to give evidence as part of a forced labor inquiry.