51 countries sign joint statement at UN against China’s abuses against Muslim Uyghur minority

51 countries have signed a joint statement against China over the atrocities committed by its regime against the Uyghur population in the Xinjiang region.

The statement was signed in the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, which deals with human rights issues.

The statement said: “These violations include arbitrary detentions, forced labor, cultural assimilation, intrusive surveillance, coercive population control measures, separation of children from their families, enforced disappearances, and even psychological, physical, and sexual torture.”

Uyghur activists say the statement on East Turkestan, the name used by the exiled Uyghurs for Xinjiang, shines a light on the “ongoing and severe abuses being committed by the Chinese regime against Uyghurs and other Muslim-majority communities.”

Uyghur groups have called on the international community to stand together and “confront the deeply troubling human rights violations taking place in East Turkestan”.

American Uyghur activist Rushan Abbas said: “It is important that we re-evaluate the strategies and diplomatic channels used to promote international cooperation and ensure that concrete action is taken to address the atrocities taking place in East Turkestan. “Unfortunately, engaging in mere statements, calling on China to stop its atrocities, is not enough, we need to act.”

A United Nations report last year pointed to human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region targeting Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities with a Muslim majority, confirming the validity of allegations that more than a million members of ethnic minorities have been forcibly sent to centers that Beijing says are for vocational