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MONTREAL: The UN is in negotiations with Beijing for an “unrestricted” visit to Xinjiang to see how the minority Uighur is treated, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in an interview broadcast on Sunday (March 28).
At least one million Uyghurs and people from other groups, mostly Muslims, have been held in camps in the Northwest region, according to rights groups in the United States and Australia, which accuse Chinese authorities of forcibly sterilizing women. and imposing forced labor.
China has repeatedly cracked down on criticism of its treatment of the group.
“A serious negotiation is currently underway between the Office of the Commissioner (for UN Human Rights) and the Chinese authorities,” Guterres told Canada’s CBC television network.
“I hope they will reach an agreement soon” to allow a visit “without restrictions or limitations,” he added.
LEE: China sanctions UK entities and individuals for Xinjiang’s ‘lies and misinformation’
Guterres said the Chinese had repeatedly told him “that they want that mission carried out.”
On Saturday, Beijing announced sanctions against two Americans, a Canadian and a rights organization that had criticized its treatment of Uighurs, which according to US officials constitutes genocide.
Guterres said he was also following “with concern” the fate of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who are being held in China on espionage charges.
His arrest, which Ottawa has denounced as “arbitrary,” is widely viewed in the West as retaliation for the arrest and continued detention in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, an executive at the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.
“Our position has been very clear,” Guterres told CBC: “that in all situations of this type, there must be due process and full respect for the human rights of the people involved.”
