China’s Treatment of Uyghur Population Is Genocide: Netherlands

WASHINGTON: – The Netherlands’ parliament on Thursday passed a non-binding motion saying the treatment of the Uyghur Muslims in China amounts to genocide.

As such it is the first member of the European Union to denounce the current Chinese oppression of people in the East Turkistan region as genocide, and the third in the world after the US and Canada.

“We thank the Dutch Parliament for officially recognizing China’s atrocities against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan as genocide,” said Salih Hudayar, Prime Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile, the democratically elected official body representing East Turkistan and its people.

Supporters and members of the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement rally outside the White House to urge the United States to end trade deals with China and take action to stop the oppression of the Uyghur and other Turkic peoples on Aug 14, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Canada recently became the second country in the world to describe China’s treatment of its Uyghur population as genocide, following a contentious parliamentary vote which is likely to further raise diplomatic tensions between the two nations although Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself opted to abstain.

In a similarly controversial move earlier in the month, US President Joe Biden called China’s actions a “different norm” – a response that made headlines around the world, but one America’s left leaning government have largely remained silent on.

Only a limited number of low ranking US political figures on the left of the political spectrum in Washington have made any effort to condemn China for their oppression of the Uyghurs.

“We urge all countries across the world, especially democratic nations, to follow suit and recognize China’s genocide in Occupied East Turkistan,” said Mr. Hudayar

The Dutch motion said that the Chinese government’s actions, such as “measures intended to prevent births” and “having punishment camps,” fell under United Nations Resolution 260, generally known as the genocide convention.

The East Turkistan Government in Exile strongly encourages the international community to support our ongoing case against China at the International Criminal Court and pressure the International Olympics Committee to relocate the upcoming Winter 2022 Olympics from China to another country not engaged in genocide.

Note: East Turkistan was renamed Xinjiang after China’s Occupation in 1949.

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