The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has submitted their response to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Inquiry on the Xinjiang detention camps.
They believe more evidence is mounting on the scale of the atrocities being committed by the Chinese Government against its Uighur Muslim citizens. The inquiry is exploring ways in which the UK Government can prevent UK companies from benefitting from forced labour in the Xinjiang region, support members of the Uighur diaspora community and strengthen the UK’s atrocity prevention mechanisms.
In their report, they note, “The FCDO’s approach to date on the Xinjiang situation been slow and lethargic with little tangible action despite the years of mounting evidence that atrocities are taking place. The FCDO must have a clear and ethical foreign policy that applies a consistent approach to human rights abuses in all countries. For example, with the ongoing war in Yemen being described by the UN as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, the UK’s resumption of arms sales to Saudi Arabia in July 2020 despite numerous reports by human rights groups14 that these UK-manufactured weapons are likely being used to carry out war crimes, creates perceptions that may compromise the UK’s ability to challenge atrocities taking place elsewhere in the world such as in Xinjiang.”
