United Nations’ counterterrorism chief Vladimir Voronkov in China to visit Xinjiang internment camps
- Undersecretary general is highest level UN official to visit far western region
- Voronkov’s visit has been criticised by rights activists, who have described Xinjiang as an open prison
The United Nations’ counterterrorism chief is visiting China’s Xinjiang region, where Beijing says 1 million Uygurs and other Muslims are being detained because of a terrorism threat, UN sources and rights activists said on Thursday.
Vladimir Voronkov, undersecretary general for counterterrorism, is the highest level UN official to visit the far western Chinese region, which activists have described as an open prison, deprived of religious freedom.
UN spokesman Farhan Haq confirmed that Voronkov, a Russian diplomat, was on an official visit to China, but did not provide details of his itinerary.
The UN counterterrorism office worked to ensure that measures used to fight terror respected human rights, Haq said.
Beijing argues that the internment camps in Xinjiang are “vocational training centres” to steer people away from extremism and reintegrate them, in a region plagued by violence blamed on Uygur separatists or Islamists.
Voronkov’s visit to Xinjiang, first reported by Foreign Policy magazine, drew sharp criticism from rights activists.