Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 38
38
While we commend the ongoing work of the UK Government in speaking out and leading...
Conclusion
While we commend the ongoing work of the UK Government in speaking out and leading on the issue of Xinjiang at the United Nations, we are concerned that its actions do not match its rhetoric and have so far proved ineffective. A crisis of this scale requires a cross-government, cross-sectoral, international approach. In this report, we have made recommendations on multilateral action, private sector reforms, the support required for members of persecuted diaspora, and the Government’s approach to atrocity prevention. The implementation of these recommendations would provide a much more robust and comprehensive Government response to the Xinjiang crisis, ensuring that all support possible is given to the people suffering from identity-based persecution. (Paragraph 68) Never Again: The UK’s Responsibility to Act on Atrocities in Xinjiang and Beyond 31
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The Government is grateful for the Foreign Affairs Committee’s report “Never Again: The UK’s Responsibility to Act on Atrocities in Xinjiang and Beyond”, published on 8 July 2021. Promoting human rights around the world is at the heart of the FCDO’s foreign policy. We are proud that the UK is known as a champion of open and democratic societies, human rights and the rule of law. Xinjiang has rightly been at the centre of our human rights work in recent years. The evidence of the scale and the severity of the human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghurs and other ethnic minority groups is far-reaching, and paints a deeply concerning picture. In response, we have taken robust action and worked closely with a wide range of international partners to increase the pressure on China to change its behaviour. Our actions have included: • Leading the first two statements on Xinjiang at the UN, and deploying our global diplomatic network to build international support for subsequent statements; • Repeatedly urging China to grant unfettered access to Xinjiang for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to verify the facts on the ground; • Using our Global Human Rights sanctions regime to impose asset bans and travel freezes on Chinese actors responsible for enforcing China’s repressive policies in Xinjiang; • Announcing robust measures to help ensure that no UK organisation is complicit in the human rights violations in Xinjiang; • Funding research to build the evidence base and deepen international understanding of the human rights violations occurring in Xinjiang; • Consistently raising our concerns with the Chinese authorities at the highest levels in public and private; and • Working closely with our international partners—including through the G7—to build consensus on the need to take further action. There is evidence that international pressure has, at a minimum, resulted in China changing its narrative on Xinjiang. It has now acknowledged the existence of ‘re-education camps’, claimed that ‘students’ at those camps have ‘graduated’, and exerted significant propaganda efforts to try to justify its policies. However, we recognise that further international action is required. We have therefore given careful consideration to each of the Committee’s 36 wide-ranging recommendations, and have addressed each recommendation in full.