Thank you for contacting me about the plight of Uyghur Muslims in China.
I share your concerns about the appalling human rights situation in Xinjiang and the Chinese Government's deepening crackdown on Uyghur Muslims, including the extra-judicial detention of over a million Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in “political re-education camps”, reports of birth rate suppression and other practices, including reports of Uyghur women forced to marry Han men and Uyghurs being systematically treated as second class citizens, which appear designed to threaten the very existence of the Uyghur people.
The UK regularly raises human rights concerns with China, including on the treatment of religious and ethnic minorities. The Foreign Secretary last spoke with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi, on 8 June.
I join my colleagues in Government in urging China to implement important UN recommendations on ending the practice of extra-judicial detention of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities, and to allow UN observers unfettered access to the region.
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, including in China.
I am told that the Government is aware of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom report on Covid-19 and will consider its findings.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Craig Whittaker MP
July 2020