World News – AU – EP asks China to allow UN to visit Xinjian

Brussels [Belgium], 18. December (ANI): The European Parliament (EP) passed a resolution on Friday on forced labor and the situation of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, while calling on the EU to proactively work towards an independent UN investigation into China Ensure accountability for crimes committed.

« The situation in Xinjiang, home to more than 10 million Muslim Uyghurs and Kazakhs, has deteriorated rapidly, particularly since the Chinese government launched its ‘strike against violent terrorism’ campaign in 2014, » a resolution said of the EP.

It added: « Uyghurs and other mainly Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Uyghurs have faced arbitrary detention, torture, tremendous restrictions on religious practice and culture, and a digitized surveillance system that pervades every aspect of daily life – through facial recognition cameras, cell phone scans, the large-scale illegal capture, aggregation and processing of personal data « .

The resolution states that the Chinese regime has generally been strengthened and the treatment of minorities, especially Uyghurs, Tibetans and Mongols, has been tightened to assimilate them through the introduction of the Chinese majority lifestyle and communism ideology.

Credible reports indicate that more than a million people are or have been detained in so-called « political re-education centers » in the world’s largest mass incarceration of an ethnic minority.

The detention center system in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is expanding. Since 2017, more than 380 suspected detention centers have been built or expanded, and between July 2019 and July 2020, at least 61 detention centers have been built or expanded.

The European Parliament noted that Chinese authorities are systematically exposing Uyghur women of childbearing age to forced abortions, intrauterine injections and sterilization, with 80 percent of all new intrauterine device (IUD) placements in the Uyghur region occurring in China in 2018, despite the Fact that it only makes 1. 8 percent of the Chinese population; whereas such measures to prevent births among the Uighur population could meet the criteria for belonging to the worst crimes against humanity.

The European Parliament also expressed concern about the practice of forced labor in Xinjiang, which produces over 20 percent of global cotton production.

The resolution states: « 84 percent of Chinese cotton comes from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which means that yarn, textiles and garments made from Chinese cotton are at extremely high risk of forced and prison labor made in China or elsewhere in the world « .

It added, « It has been reported that more than 80 international branded companies benefit directly or indirectly from Uyghur forced laborers in their supply chains. The current context of oppression prevents independent investigations and audits from being carried out in the Uighurs Region « .

The European Parliament urged China to allow the European Parliament to visit Xinjiang on condition that it has free and unrestricted access while ensuring confidentiality and security for the local population.

It added: « The Chinese authorities are granting journalists and international observers, including EU officials, free, meaningful and unhindered access to the Xinjiang Province and unrestricted access to the detention centers at the summit of the EU-China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping 14th. September 2020 before the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights and the holders of the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council « .

The European Parliament also calls on the EU and Member States to continue to insist on the establishment of a UN information mission in Xinjiang and the appointment of a special envoy. (ANI)

Brussels [Belgium], 18. December (ANI): The European Parliament (EP) passed a resolution on Friday on forced labor and the situation of the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, calling on the EU to proactively initiate an independent UN investigation into China with a view to ensuring the Accountability for the crimes committed.

« The situation in Xinjiang, home to more than 10 million Muslim Uyghurs and Kazakhs, has deteriorated rapidly, particularly since the Chinese government launched its ‘strike against violent terrorism’ campaign in 2014, » a resolution said of the EP.

It added: « Uyghurs and other mainly Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Uyghurs have faced arbitrary detention, torture, tremendous restrictions on religious practice and culture, and a digitized surveillance system that pervades every aspect of daily life – through facial recognition cameras, cell phone scans, the large-scale illegal capture, aggregation and processing of personal data « .

The resolution states that the Chinese regime has generally been strengthened and the treatment of minorities, especially Uyghurs, Tibetans and Mongols, has been tightened to assimilate them through the introduction of the Chinese majority lifestyle and communism ideology.

Credible reports indicate that more than a million people are or have been detained in so-called « political re-education centers » in the world’s largest mass incarceration of an ethnic minority.

The detention center system in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is expanding. Since 2017, more than 380 suspected detention centers have been built or expanded, and between July 2019 and July 2020, at least 61 detention centers have been built or expanded.

The European Parliament noted that Chinese authorities are systematically exposing Uyghur women of childbearing age to forced abortions, intrauterine injections and sterilization, with 80 percent of all new intrauterine device (IUD) placements in the Uyghur region occurring in China in 2018, despite the Fact that it only makes 1. 8 percent of the Chinese population; whereas such measures to prevent births among the Uighur population could meet the criteria for belonging to the worst crimes against humanity.

The European Parliament also expressed concern about the practice of forced labor in Xinjiang, which produces over 20 percent of global cotton production.

The resolution states: « 84 percent of Chinese cotton comes from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which means that yarn, textiles and garments made from Chinese cotton are at extremely high risk of forced and prison labor made in China or elsewhere in the world « .

It added, « It has been reported that more than 80 international branded companies benefit directly or indirectly from Uyghur forced laborers in their supply chains. The current context of oppression prevents independent investigations and audits from being carried out in the Uighurs Region « .

The European Parliament urged China to allow the European Parliament to visit Xinjiang on condition that it has free and unrestricted access while ensuring confidentiality and security for the local population.

It added: « The Chinese authorities are granting journalists and international observers, including EU officials, free, meaningful and unhindered access to the Xinjiang Province and unrestricted access to the detention centers at the summit of the EU-China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping 14th. September 2020 before the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights and the holders of the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council « .

The European Parliament also calls on the EU and Member States to continue to insist on the establishment of a UN information mission in Xinjiang and the appointment of a special envoy. (ANI)

Uyghurs, China, Xinjiang, unfree labor