MPs call for political action against China over Uyghur persecution
Emergency meeting hosted by the Board of Deputies came ahead of a vote in the House of Commons next week that could impact on bilateral trade between London and Beijing.
Senior MPs and activists have spoken of the UK’s urgent need to take a political stand against the genocide being inflicted on Uyghur Muslims in China.
Thursday evening’s appeal at an emergency meeting hosted by the Board of Deputies came ahead of a vote in the House of Commons next week, where MPs will decide on whether the UK amends a bill to prevent bilateral trade deals with any country it deems to be carrying out a genocide.
The audience, watching from a live stream, heard the urgent addresses from MPs including the Rt Hon Sir Ian Duncan Smith, Nusrat Ghani and Lisa Nandy and the testimony of World Uyghur Congress representative Rahima Mahmut, who all spoke of the atrocities faced by the Uyghurs at the hands of the Chinese authorities.
Drawing similarities with the situation in Xinjiang to the Shoah, former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith said: “The Uyghurs, it was said by the Chinese authorities have no rights. This reminds of the way the Jews were treated in the 1940s as termed as Untermensch – people with no humanity so what you did to them didn’t matter.”
Shadow Foreign Secretary, Labour MP Lisa Nandy, also drew comparisons. She told the audience how Marie van der Zyl had previously “laid out the similarities between what happened in Nazi Germany and what is happening here… the beards of religious men being trimmed, the women being sterilised, the grim spectre of concentration camps….It would not be in keeping with the UK’s tradition of standing up to mass atrocities to turn away now.“
Around one million Muslims are understood to be held in camps in Xinjiang, a region in the country’s northwest, according to human rights activists.
Last year, Jewish News, together with Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani, and with the support of the World Uyghur Congress and human rights charity René Cassin, petitioned MPs and peers, urging them to push for sanctions and an independent investigation. More the 150 backed our call.
Rahima Mahmut, a Uyghur spokesperson pleaded with the meeting to support the amendment. “What is happening is not a secret anymore. By telling my story I am putting my loved ones at great risk but this is the least we can do,” she said.
Nusrat Ghani, MP, said that if there were ever “any maker of genocide”, it is that there has been an “85 per cent drop in birth rates of Uyghur women” which she described as a ‘vile crime.’
- OPINION: NUS GHANI MP: We can halt the Uyghur genocide by ending business as usual
- OPINION: Benedict Rogers: Plight of the Uyghurs reflects pattern of oppression in China
She warned the audience of the importance of doing our part here in the UK because “we are complicit in the genocide because the products produced by the slavery ends up here. It’s not a situation where genocide took place somewhere else and did not impact us at all. Unfortunately, it is impacting us right here right now.”
Appealing to fellow MPs, who on Tuesday have the chance to vote on the bill – which was passed by the House of Lords in December, but must now return to the House of Commons for MPs to vote on – Sir Duncan Smith said that this is not a political issue, but a moral one.
“The government should not see this is terms of party politics but in terms of right and wrong. It’s a very simple choice but a complex decision….If we in the mother of parliament do not speak for those who are benighted and trashed by authorities then frankly I don’t think we deserve to be in that mother of parliament.”
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Tugendhat, told the meeting: “This is an opportunity to make the changes we need to make sure that goods that come from slave states and slave production are stopped long before they get to our borders.
“This an opportunity for us to make a stand and I hope the Government listens.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
