Image only for representation
Ottawa: Canada has unanimously passed a motion to allow the resettlement of the 10,000 Uyghur Muslims fleeing from China's Xinjiang due to the government's oppression. In 2021, Canada become one of the first countries to label China's treatment of Uyghurs as 'genocide'.
The motion passed on January 1 said that Ugyhurts "face pressure and intimidation by the Chinese state to return to China, where they face the serious risk of mass arbitrary detention, mass arbitrary separation of children from their parents, forced sterilization, forced labour, torture, and other atrocities."
The resettlement will start in 2024 and be carried out over two years. Liberal Party member Sameer Zuberi who introduced the bill said that the vote was a "historic moment". He tweeted: "This was a good day for Canada, for the Uyghur people, and our human family."
A report in The Geneve Daily said the move may annoy Beijing.
China applying diplomatic and economic pressure on countries such as Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan where Uyghur inhabitation is high was also noted in the bill. The Geneva Daily said Beijing's order to detain and deport Uyghurs is leaving them without a safe haven in the world.
Mao Ning, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman on Thursday, said Canada is "politically manipulating Xinjiang-related issues for ulterior motives, spreading disinformation and misleading the public." Jiang Duan, a senior official at China's mission to the UN in Geneva, said Canada has historically "robbed the Indigenous people of their land, killed them, and eradicated their culture."