Religious leaders from around the world have come together to condemn China’s brutal crackdown on its Muslim Uyghur minority.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is among a group of more than 40 people demanding an end to what they called “one of the most egregious human tragedies since the Holocaust: the possible genocide of Uighurs and other Muslims in China.”
Rabbi Julia Neuberger and the Dalai Lama’s representative in Europe also lent their weight in a joint statement last night that condemned the communist regime in Beijing, stating that ‘the clear aim of the Chinese authorities is to eradicate the Uighur identity.’
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is among a group of more than 40 members around the world who has come together to condemn China’s brutal crackdown on its Muslim Uighur minority.
They add: “At least one million Uighurs and other Muslims in China are incarcerated in prison camps facing hunger, torture, murder, sexual violence, slave labor and forced organ harvesting.
“Outside the camps, basic religious freedom is denied.
“Mosques are destroyed, children are separated from their families and acts as simple as possessing a Koran, praying or fasting can result in arrests.”
Uighurs live mainly in Xinjiang province.
China’s hardline President Xi Xinping stepped up the crackdown on the pretext of fighting terrorism after taking power in 2012.
Rabbi Julia Neuberger (pictured) and the Dalai Lama’s representative in Europe also lent their support to a joint statement last night that condemned the communist regime in Beijing.
Despite strong evidence that up to one million Uyghurs have been held in detention camps in recent years, the Chinese government has described such claims as unfounded.
An academic report in June claimed that Beijing had carried out a forced sterilization or birth control campaign against Uighur women of childbearing age, prompting calls for the UN to launch an investigation.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab last month accused China of “grave and egregious” human rights abuses against the Muslim group and refused to rule out sanctions against Beijing.
But the coalition of religious leaders accused world leaders of failing to act and concluded: ‘After the Holocaust, the world said’ Never again. Today, we repeat those words over and over again ”.