The UK has urged China to give “immediate and unfettered access” to United Nations observers to detention camps in Xinjiang region. China is accused of keeping more than a million people from the Uighur community and other Muslim minorities without trial.
The matter picked up pace after foreign office responds to a leaked China cables which appear to confirm brainwashing centers. Along with this, leaked classified documents from within the Communist party appear to provide the first official confirmation regarding brainwashing.
The documents elaborate on the procedural and functional aspects related to camps. Firstly, the inmates are cut off from their families for at least a year. Then they held behind multiple layers of security to undergo ideological transformation.
The leak provides cues to the Foreign Office to demand “an end to the indiscriminate and disproportionate restrictions on the cultural and religious freedoms.” Furthermore, “The UK continues to call on China to allow UN observers immediate and unfettered access to the region,” a spokesperson added.
The European commission, in Brussels, condemned the use of “political re-education camps”. The commission specifically mentioned that they would not comment on the details of the leak. But the commission establishes its position on the issue. The commission said that it would continue to raise the issue of human rights abuses in Xinjiang with Chinese government officials.
A spokeswoman said “We have consistently spoken out against the existence of political re-education camps, widespread surveillance and restrictions of freedom of religion against Uighurs and other minorities in Xinjiang.”
She further added that “We as the European Union continue to expect China to uphold its international obligations and to respect human rights.” These rights should also include “rights of persons belonging to minorities, especially in Xinjiang
Importantly, in July, 22 countries at the UNs’ top human rights body issued a joint statement and calling for China to end its arbitrary detentions.
