Global coalition of scholars calls for added pressure on China over Uygur internment camps in Xinjiang

A statement delivered on behalf of 278 academics from 26 countries called for the release of detainees and an end to China’s campaign against Muslim minorities

The group also included an appeal to countries engaged in China’s Belt and Road Initiative

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A Uygur man watches as a truck carrying paramilitary policemen passes by in Xinjiang. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:43am, 27 Nov 2018Updated: 8:48pm, 27 Nov 2018

A global coalition of nearly 300 scholars on Monday called on Beijing to abolish its “transformation through education” campaign against China’s ethnic Uygur population, and appealed for increased diplomatic and legislative pressure on the Chinese government over the matter.

In a statement delivered on behalf of 278 academics from 26 countries, the group of self-titled “concerned scholars” said immediate action was needed “to prevent setting negative future precedents regarding the acceptability of any state’s complete repression of a segment of its population, especially on the basis of ethnicity or religion.”

Watch: Xinjiang explained

Up to 1 million ethnic Uygurs, Kazakhs and members of other largely Muslim ethnic groups are reported to be detained in extrajudicial internment camps in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, a crackdown that began in early 2017.

After scrutiny by the United Nations and other international bodies, official statements from Chinese authorities have recently shifted from denial to justification, arguing that re-education is needed to combat the spread of extremist religious ideology and terrorism.

The scholars’ call for action – which also included an appeal for countries engaged in China’s Belt and Road Initiative to make their involvement in the infrastructural development programme contingent on the abolition of mass internment camps — comes amid mounting evidence that Beijing is expanding its security crackdown in Xinjiang.