Dec 17, 2018

East Turkestan: United Nations Attempting to Access Xinjiang for Monitoring Mission


In face of the severe human rights situation in East Turkestan, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is seeking to access the province of Xinjiang in China, where the detention of over a million Uyghur people in “re-educational” camps has been reported. The proposed visit is in order to verify the reports the UN has been receiving from civil society actors. 

The article below was published by NHK:

The United Nations human rights chief is seeking access to China's Xinjiang province, where Uighur Muslims are believed to be held in camps.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet told reporters on Wednesday [5 December 2018] that her office is receiving worrying reports about the human rights situation in Xinjiang.

Bachelet said her office is asking for direct access to the region to verify the reports.

International human rights groups say many Uighur Muslims in the autonomous region have been unfairly detained in the name of counterterrorism and forced to go through "reeducation" under terrible conditions.

Experts say as many as one million Uighurs have been held in camps.

China's government says the camps only provide vocational training for Uighurs who have been influenced by extremism, so that they can return to society.

 

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