BBC News Published image copyrightGetty Images Retailer Marks & Spencer has signed onto a call to action on human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region. In December, the BBC revealed new evidence that China is forcing hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and other minorities into hard, manual labour in the cotton fields of Xinjiang. The report increased pressure on clothing retailers to remove Xinjiang cotton from their supply chains. M&S uses around 40,000 tonnes of lint cotton each year from various sources. The call to action comes from a coalition of civil society organisations and labour unions who want to end abuses against Uighur people.