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Residents in front of a camp in Xinjiang
Photo by Ng Han Guan/ AP
Amid new reports of Beijing's systematic repression of the Uyghurs, the International Labor Organization (ILO) has decided to send a "technical advisory mission" to China.
The General Assembly of the UN agency in Geneva adopted a statement by a committee deploring "the use of all repressive measures against the Uyghurs which have a discriminatory effect on their employment opportunities and their treatment as a religious and ethnic minority in China".
China must stop this immediately and let the ILO mission into the country – the UN organization should submit a report assessing the situation by September 1st.
Chinese official Qian Xiaoyan said the ILO committees should not be misused as "a political tool used by some Western countries to slander and denigrate China."
Evidence of internment of Uyghurs
An international media consortium with the participation of SPIEGEL recently published further evidence of the mass internment of Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
Thousands of photos, speeches and instructions from the authorities prove, among other things, torture and the existence of a shoot-to-kill order.
According to human rights activists, at least a million Uyghurs have been detained in re-education camps, where they are also forced to do forced labour.
The US accuses Beijing of genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.
The German government has also expressed concern about China's handling of the Uyghurs.
The Ministry of Commerce refused to extend investment guarantees for the Volkswagen Group, which operates in Xinjiang.
Beijing justifies its actions in Xinjiang with the need for "anti-terrorist" measures.
ani/AFP