The European Parliament adopted a joint resolution called “forced labour and the situation of the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region”.
The resolution expressed its strong condemnation of the Chinese government’s policy of forcing the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Muslim minorities to work in closed factories and camps in Xinjiang
The resolution called on the Chinese authorities to allow the visit of an independent international monitoring committee to monitor the humanitarian situation the region.
The resolution pointed out that sanctions can be imposed on individuals, institutions and entities that violate European human rights, within the framework of the “global human rights sanctions regime”.
“The European Parliament calls on member states and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, to urgently consider imposing sanctions on government institutions responsible for the policy of mass detention of Uyghurs and other minorities for forced labor in Xinjiang.”
In early December, the United States banned the import of cotton products from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Company due to its forced labor of Uyghurs.
Since 1949, China has controlled the Muslim Uyghur minority region, and called it “Xinjiang”, meaning “the new frontier”.
Official statistics indicate that there are 30 million Muslims in China, 23 million of whom are Uyghurs, while unofficial reports confirm that the number of Muslims is close to 100 million.
Last March, the US State Department released its annual human rights report for 2019, in which it stated that China’s detention of Muslims in detention centers “aims to erase their religious and ethnic identity.”
However, China usually says that the centers, which the international community describes as “concentration camps”, are “vocational training centers” aim to “purify the minds of the detainees from extremist ideas.”
WCHR calls on the Chinese Communist Party to immediately stop these horrific practices against minorities in China. We also call on all governments and humanitarian and human rights organizations to join in demanding an end to these inhumane violations.
The UN must adopt a resolution and create a commission of inquiry with authority to Investigate allegations of crimes against humanity and other human rights abuses against Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, including unlawful imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty; persecution against an identifiable group on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, or religious grounds; enforced disappearance; torture; murder; other inhumane acts including forced labor; and restrictions on religious freedom; sexual violence; and violations of reproductive rights.