China: Uighurs

(asked on 23rd March 2020) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of the conclusion of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom report on COVID-19, which stated that limited access to medical resources and the concentration of elderly detainees in the re-education camps in Xinjiang could lead to a humanitarian disaster.


Answered by
Nigel Adams Portrait
Nigel Adams
This question was answered on 21st April 2020

Following the change to date for answer of this PQ, I submitted a response by email on 26 March, with the following response.The Table Office have agreed this approach.

The risk of the spread of COVID-19 in places of detention is a matter of concern in a number of countries around the world. We are aware of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom report and will consider its findings.

We have consistently made clear our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including the extra-judicial detention of over a million Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in "political re-education camps".

On 9 March, the Foreign Secretary directly raised these concerns with his Chinese counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. On 10 March at the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, the UK used its national statement to raise concerns about systematic human rights violations and reports of forced labour in Xinjiang. We continue to urge China to implement UN recommendations - to end the practice of extra-judicial detention of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities, and to allow UN observers unfettered access to the region.

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