The motion, put forth by ACT Party deputy leader Brooke van Velden, is similar to those that were passed in the Parliaments of Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
The motion will ask MPs to vote on whether the human rights atrocities in China’s Occupied East Turkistan amount to genocide, and whether they should call upon the Government to “act to fulfill its obligation” under United Nations conventions.
“We thank New Zealand’s ACT Party and its Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden for introducing this motion,” said Vice President Abdulahat Nur of the East Turkistan Government in Exile. “The Uyghur and other Turkic people of East Turkistan are left at mercy of democratic nations across the globe to act to end the genocide; recognition is the first step,” he added.
To date, New Zealand has recognized genocide three times in the past including The Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide of the Tutsi, and genocide conducted by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
“There is no doubt that what China is doing to Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in Occupied East Turkistan is genocide as defined under the UN Genocide Convention,” said Prime Minister Salih Hudayar of the East Turkistan Government in Exile. “We urge all political parties in New Zealand, especially the ruling Labour Party to vote yes on this motion and stand with the victims of genocide,” he added.
The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) and East Turkistanis (Uyghurs and others originating from East Turkistan) worldwide are hopeful that New Zealand will continue its long-standing policy of opposing genocide across the globe, including the genocide currently happening in Occupied East Turkistan.
The ETGE continues to call on other democratic nations across the world, including the EU, Germany, France, Australia, Japan, and India, to also recognize the genocide occurring in East Turkistan.
The ETGE is also calling on the governments of New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the European Union, India, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. to grant refuge to Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples fleeing genocide in East Turkistan and support East Turkistan’s case against China at the International Criminal Court.
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