China lets UN Commissioner for Human Rights travel to Xinjiang - unhindered access promised

Created: 03/08/2022, 14:02

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet will visit Xinjiang in May © Liu Qu/Imago/Xinhua

After years of negotiations, UN Human Rights Commissioner Bachelet is allowed to enter China and the Xinjiang region in May.

You should get unhindered access to interlocutors.

Geneva/Beijing/Munich – After years of negotiations, China is now apparently allowing the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to enter China.

She will also travel to the north-west region of Xinjiang, Bachelet said on Tuesday at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

There, China is said to have interned up to a million people from the Uyghur Muslim minority in re-education camps.

Bachelet has been demanding access to the region for an independent review of the allegations for years.

The surprising news of the travel permit comes at a time when the UN is trying to get China to agree on a common course against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It was initially unclear whether the travel permit was related to China's diplomatic tightrope walk in the Ukraine conflict.

Bachelet travels to Xinjiang: Advance team in April in China

What is certain is that an advance team will now prepare for Bachelet's visit in April and will also travel to Xinjiang for this purpose.

China has responded to the bureau's requirements for a visit, the spokeswoman for the High Commission said afterwards.

This means that Bachelet and her team have unimpeded access to the people they want to talk to and can speak freely with them, including representatives of civil society.

Previously, a trip had repeatedly failed due to disagreement about the modalities of the visit.

Human rights organizations repeatedly accuse China of torture, abuse and indoctrination in the camps.

Beijing does not deny the existence of these camps, but describes them as training centers.

China rejects allegations of human rights violations.

Meanwhile, the United States is increasingly calling the situation in Xinjiang a genocide.

The EU has so far refrained from doing this.

Bachelet also had a report drawn up on the situation in Xinjiang.

Human rights activists have been waiting for its publication for months.

In the UN Human Rights Council, several countries have also asked Bachelet to present the report soon.

Allegations: human rights violations and eradication of Uyghur culture in Xinjiang

Critics accuse China of wanting to erase the cultural identity of the Uyghurs.

The Uyghurs themselves also complain about cultural and religious oppression.

This so-called "sinicization" of conquered peoples - i.e. their forced adaptation to Chinese culture - has been a common method in China for thousands of years.

However, such an approach has no place today.

Beijing therefore officially accuses the Uyghurs of separatism and terrorism.

Tensions have existed in Xinjiang for many years between the ruling Han Chinese and the Communist Party on the one hand and ethnic minorities on the other.

There were repeated small attacks, but they never became a terrorist movement.

Bachelet said at the UN Human Rights Council she was concerned about the treatment of people who openly raise human rights issues or criticize the authorities.

Some were convicted or placed under house arrest.

She called on China to respect and protect the right to freedom of expression.