LONDON (CU)_The United Kingdom on Monday (Feb 22) will call on China to provide the United Nations with “urgent and unfettered” access to Xinjiang, in order to investigate reports of abuses in the far western Chinese region.
As Britain returns to the UN Human Rights Council as a voting member, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is expected to refer to reports of human rights abuses, including torture, forced labour and the forced sterilisation of women, in the north western region in China.
“The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, or another independent fact-finding expert, must – and I repeat must – be given urgent and unfettered access to Xinjiang,” the Foreign Secretary will tell the meeting, according to his office.
In addition to abuses of mass arbitrary detention, repressive surveillance, torture, mistreatment and forced labour, China has also been widely criticised for carrying out detention camps to mould and brainwash the mostly-Muslim minority in Xinjiang into mainstream Chinese society. However, Beijing has denied any wrongdoing, saying it is merely running a voluntary employment and language-training program.
Since December 2008, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has been calling on China to allow her to visit the region. Beijing previously did say it would welcome UN officials in Xinjiang, however, providing that the agency representatives stay out of the country’s internal affairs.
During the meeting on Monday, the British Foreign Secretary is also expected to raise concerns about Myanmar and Belarus, and condemn the rights record of Russia. Raab will highlight the “disgraceful” treatment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, as well as the situations in Myanmar and Belarus. He will discuss the steps Britain has taken to address these matters and encourage other members to follow.
