British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will also mark Britain’s return to the UN Human Rights Council as a voting member by condemning the judicial record of fellow councilors China and Russia and raising concerns about Myanmar and Belarus, she said. office said.
Across China, Raab will refer to reports of abuse in Xinjiang, including torture, forced labor and forced sterilization of women. “They are taking place on an industrial scale,” he will say according to his office.
“The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, or another independent fact-maker, must – and I repeat – have urgent and unrestricted access to Xinjiang,” he said.
China has been widely condemned for setting up complexes in Xinjiang that Beijing describes as “vocational training centers” to eradicate extremism and give people new skills. Critics of China have called them concentration camps.
The United Nations said at least 1 million Uighurs and other Muslims were detained in Xinjiang.
While the Chinese government has repeatedly said that Muslim minorities in Xinjiang enjoy a high quality of life, the government’s efforts by journalists to report independently on the region have been hampered.
The Chinese government is facing increasing pressure to address allegations of human rights violations against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
British Foreign Secretary Raab will also lead the “disgraceful” treatment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the crisis in Myanmar and the situation in Belarus. He will outline steps Britain has taken to address these issues, such as sanctions, and encourage others to follow.