World politicians have called for a United Nations probe into a Chinese government birth control campaign targeting Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, an autonomous region in China that borders the former Soviet republics of Central Asia.
The calls come after a new report has found that China is forcing women to be sterilised or fitted with contraceptive devices in Xinjiang in an attempt to limit the population of Muslim Uyghurs. China has denied the allegations, calling them “baseless”.
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group of European, Australian, North American, and Japanese politicians, has called for an independent UN investigation. “The world cannot remain silent in the face of unfolding atrocities”, the group said.
According to a UN convention, “imposing measures intended to prevent births” with “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group” is considered evidence of genocide.
The Chinese Communist Party has for the last three years forced the Uyghur community into re-education camp in Xinjiang. Beijing has labelled the camps as “help centres”, which the Communist Party claims are designed to combat religious extremism. Leaked documents earlier showed that the centers are forced ideological re-education camps.
British MEPs on Monday urged the UK foreign ministry to adopt a tougher stance against the Chinese government.
United States secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Monday said that the reports of forced birth control for minorities were “shocking” and “disturbing”: “We call on the Chinese Communist Party to immediately end these horrific practices”, he warned.
Last month, the US House of Representatives approved a legislation calling for human rights sanctions on Chinese officials deemed responsible for the oppression of Uyghur Muslims.
