CFU Press Release
For Immediate Release
February 25, 2021 9:30 p.m. EST
Contact: contact@campaignforuyghurs.org
Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) commends the Dutch House of Representatives for recognizing the Chinese regime’s abuses against the Uyghur people as a genocide. We hope that this motion spurs action in the government of the Netherlands to officially designate what is happening to the Uyghurs as a genocide, as well as other EU nations to follow similarly.
We are disappointed to see that the Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s VVD party voted against the resolution to recognize the Uyghur genocide. We are also discouraged to see that the motion itself did not directly name the Chinese regime as the perpetrators of genocide against the Uyghurs, instead saying “a genocide on the Uyghur minority is occurring in China.” CFU believes it is important to address the perpetrators of crimes against humanity.
This recognition comes right after Canada’s House of Commons also passed a motion recognizing the Uyghur genocide, which included an amendment to discuss the relocation of the 2022 Winter Olympic games. CFU Executive Director Rushan Abbas stated that “Campaign For Uyghurs is heartened to see this and we hope that the government of The Netherlands and Canada will adopt official recognitions.”
The United States has already re-affirmed their stance that the crimes against Uyghurs constitute genocide in a statement earlier today, with Secretary of State Blinken saying “China will be held to account.” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also criticized the Chinese regime, saying that there is institutionalized repression of the Uyghurs.
The Netherlands, alongside the European Union and an overwhelming majority of the world’s nations, are signatories to the United Nations Genocide Convention. The next steps for the Dutch government should be to continue building on their parliamentary genocide recognition to adopt an official genocide designation against the CCP’s abuses of the Uyghurs.
Campaign for Uyghurs compiled a genocide report in June 2020 that gathered evidence from independent reports showing that the CCP’s actions targeting the Uyghurs met the conditions of genocide. Since then, the evidence has only grown, with recent reports showing systematic rape in the camps and forced labor schemes. The Chinese regime’s actions in East Turkistan have consistently violated the Genocide Convention which they are a signatory to, committing the crimes detailed in Article I.
To read CFU’s report, “Genocide in East Turkistan”, click here.
