Pakistan, along with 34 other countries came out in support of Beijing in the United Nations, after envoys from 22 governments vehemently lambasted China for the mass detention and human right violations of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province.
Envoys from across the European Union, along with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Canada, last week jointly wrote a letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHRC) Michelle Bachelet, asking China to uphold its own laws and international obligations and stop arbitrary confinement of Uighurs Muslims and minority communities.
China has been relentlessly criticised for mass detention of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang as Beijing is striving to curb the separatist organization – The East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM). UN’s Geneva-based Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination last year said that it was alarmed by “numerous reports of mass detention of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minorities”.
On July 11, China lodged a protest with the ambassadors of 22 countries for writing the letter to the UNHRC. On Friday, China obtained support from key allies and various Muslim countries including Russia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, and UAE. “They said they support China’s human rights records, and China’s policies of resolutely fighting terrorism and extremism in Xinjiang region,” the report said.
Why Islamic Countries Are Not Opposing Chinese Persecution of Muslims?
“Terrorism, separatism and religious extremism have caused enormous damage to people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, which has seriously infringed upon human rights, including the right to life, health and development,” it said quoting the letter.
