UN Committee Urges China to End Forced Labor Against Uyghurs

Illustration of Xinjiang, China. (Wikimedia Commons/Colegota)

JAKARTA - A UN committee on Monday said it was concerned about China's treatment of its Muslim minority, including its use of forced labor on Uighurs, in a report that added to pressure on Beijing to improve its human rights record.

The findings by an independent UN-appointed group of experts follow a series of hearings in Geneva last month, where rights groups raised a range of topics including Beijing's COVID-19 policy, the treatment of human rights defenders and its Muslim minority, reported by CNA on March 7.

Last year, a report by the UN human rights chief said China's treatment of the Uighurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic minority numbering around 10 million in Xinjiang, in the far west of the country, may amount to crimes against humanity.

China vehemently denies the accusations leveled at it.

The 18-member UN committee that monitors countries' compliance with international agreements on economic, social and cultural rights voiced concern at "many indications of coercive acts, including forced labor, against ethnic minorities, among them the Uighurs."

The committee asked Beijing to quickly pass a law against coercive acts; dismantle all systems of forced labor and release all individuals subject to it.

In response, China submitted an 11-page response to the report, saying it would study the recommendations carefully and was open to implementing whatever "fits China's national realities".

However, Beijing continues to reject the recommendations on the Xinjiang issue, calling it "incorrect" among other things.

The Committee also calls for an end to the systematic reprisals and prosecutions against human rights defenders and lawyers working in this field.

It also voiced concern about mental health issues, which developed after the country's prolonged lockdown under the strict zero-COVID policy that ended late last year, and called for more funding in this area.