Ties between the two countries accelerated in 2018 when Australia became the first country to publicly ban China’s Huawei from its 5G network, and worsened when Australia requested an inquiry into the origins of the new coronavirus.
In a statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, China claims that the detention centers “do not have adequate medical conditions, where a large number of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers have been detained over a long period of time or even indefinitely, and their human rights have been violated. ‘
It did not specify any locations, which they described as ‘third countries’. Asylum seekers intercepted at sea en route to Australia are sent for ‘processing’ to Papua New Guinea or to the South Pacific island of Nauru.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.
China itself has long been accused of running detention centers, with UN experts and rights groups estimating that it has more than a million people in its Xinjiang region, mostly Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, in an extensive system of camps.
China described the camps as vocational centers designed to combat extremism.
“We call on Australia to close all detention centers abroad immediately and take concrete steps to protect the rights of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, especially children,” China said in a statement. submitted a group of unnamed countries.
It also called on Australia to conduct ‘comprehensive and equitable investigations’ into reported cases of ‘serious war crimes’ committed by Australian troops abroad.
According to an Australian investigation published in November, Australian special forces are suspected of killing 39 unarmed prisoners and civilians in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.