Chanakyaa
BANNED
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2009
- Messages
- 6,538
- Reaction score
- -36
- Country
- Location
'Organ-harvesting and sterilisation China 'Holocaust' atrocities'
WHEN Dominic Raab claimed in the House of Commons yesterday that the UK Government will "back up its words with actions" on the issue of China's treatment of Uyghurs, I was ecstatic.
'Organ-harvesting and sterilisation, China committing worst atrocities since Holocaust'
WHEN Dominic Raab claimed in the House of Commons yesterday that the UK Government will "back up its words with actions" on the issue of China's treatment of Uyghurs, I was ecstatic.
By Laura Bierer-Nielsen, Director Foundation for Uyghur Freedom
PUBLISHED: 14:47, Thu, Jan 14, 2021 | UPDATED: 18:37, Thu, Jan 14, 2021
But unfortunately, like so much of what the Government has said previously, their actions fall short. Although moves towards greater corporate and public sector responsibility in regards to Uyghur forced labour are to be lauded, as Chris Bryant MP said, the measures introduced “aren’t sufficient for the moment in hand”. Yet again the UK Government is adopting the long-standing British tradition of sweeping human rights issues under the carpet in exchange for an easy life with China.
Instead of rehashing previously announced policies and presenting them as specifically Uyghur-focused the Foreign Secretary should have shown leadership.
He should have announced Magnitsky sanctions on Chinese individuals involved in the persecution of Uyghurs and declared his support for the Genocide Amendment to the UK trade bill being voted on in the House of Commons this month.
For much of this year, as the Chinese government has been ramping up its efforts of repression of the Uyghur population, the UK Government has continued its efforts to avoid the issue entirely.
To the increasing reports of mass-sterilisation, forced-organ harvesting and expanding concentration camps, Mr Raab and Mr Johnson have succeeded in showing just enough concern (when pushed), whilst simultaneously doing next to nothing.
This is not a time for playing political games and dancing around the subject, this is a time for action.
As Lisa Nandy stated, this is an issue which the Government could find itself ‘stranded on the wrong side of history.’
Much of Mr Raab’s statement represented the Government’s overall style on this issue: words over actions.
For example, repeatedly Mr Raab spoke of prioritising independent investigators entering Xinjiang and reporting the realities on the ground - something which of course would be welcomed by Uyghur activists across the world, but a wholly unfeasible priority in the current climate.
Considering China’s growing secrecy in the Xinjiang region- expelling the Buzzfeed journalist, Megha Rajagopalan (who had reported in the region for more than six years) in August this year, the likelihood of China allowing UN-authorised investigators to enter their concentration camps is negligible.
The Genocide Amendment is a perfect example, which would put into law the UK’s commitment to put human rights above trade.
The Amendment, which has already been passed by the House of Lords with a significant majority, would revoke bilateral trade deals with countries which UK Courts have determined to be committing genocide.
The Government is opposing this Amendment which would put the UK at the forefront of international genocide prevention, and make true Mr Raab’s claim that the UK “will not duck when our values are at stake.”
Instead of treating this genocide as a political obstacle which we have to get over without causing too much noise, the UK should be taking the lead.
If Boris truly wants to create a post-Brexit ‘Global Britain’ which reflects the values of human rights and freedom of speech, then we need to be shepherds, and not sheep standing by whilst the Chinese Communist Party commits some of the worst human rights atrocities since the Holocaust.
Instead of prioritising an ‘easy life’ with China, Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab need to stop shirking their international responsibilities and commitments on the issue of genocide, and stand with Uyghurs.
For too long the words and actions of the UK Government have not matched up, and the statement from Mr Raab was no exception.
Now is a chance to lead the way and be on the right side of history.
