Canada’s House of Commons has classified China’s actions against the Muslim Uygar minority in the Xinjiang region as genocide. The vote on the non-binding declaration was clear on Monday, with 266 MPs voting for it, with no opposing votes.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet were halted. A government official said that making a statement about something in Parliament will not produce enough results in China. Rather, cooperation with international partners is necessary.
The major opposition parties supported the announcement, which also called for the International Olympic Committee to postpone the planned Winter Games in Beijing in 2022. You retain most of the seats in the lower house, Trudeau has led a minority government since the last parliamentary election. Unlike his cabinet, the rest of his Liberal Party voted unanimously in favor of the declaration.
Foreign Minister Mark Gerno campaigned for a credible international investigation into the genocide allegations. Canada is concerned about reports of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, including arbitrary arrests, political education, forced labor, atrocities, and forced sterilization.
One lakh Uigars in re-education camps
Conservative Party opposition leader Erin O’Toole called on the government to reaffirm the House of Commons statement. It should also work with partners like USA to close warehouses in China. “A massacre is going on. Our prices are not for sale. And Mr. Trudeau should have sent that message today and it failed, “O’Toole complained.
With a view of China’s dealings with Muslim minorities, the Prime Minister has so far avoided the term “genocide” and said it is a “highly polluted” term.
Human rights activists and experts believe that since 2016, China has housed at least one million Uigars and members of other minorities in prisons and vast re-education camps, called leadership training centers. Last year, the AP news agency reported that the Chinese government was systematically undergoing sterilization and abortions on Uygur and other Muslim women and sending them to many camps simply because they believed they had too many children.
Beijing has denied any attacks and has spoken of the necessary steps in the fight against terrorism and separatist movements.
