The Parliament strongly condemned the Chinese government-led system of forced labor – in particular the exploitation of Uyghur, ethnic Kazakh and Kyrgyz, and other Muslim minority groups – in factories within and outside internment camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

It also denounced the continued transfer of forced laborers to other Chinese administrative divisions, and the fact that well-known European brands and companies have been benefiting from forced Chinese labor.

MEPs are deeply concerned about the increasingly oppressive regime that many religious and ethnic minorities, in particular Uyghurs and Kazakhs, are facing in mainland China. These “violate their human dignity, as well as their rights to freedom of cultural expression and religious belief, to freedom of speech and expression, and to peaceful assembly and association”.

They also deeply deplored the continued persecution and the serious and systematic human rights violations that amount to crimes against humanity, while urging the Chinese government to put an immediate end to the practice of arbitrary detention without charge, trial or conviction for criminal offences of members of the Uyghur and other Muslim minorities.

MEPs called on the Chinese government to end the “mass incarceration” of ethnic minorities in camps and detention centers and demand the immediate and unconditional release of those detained.

The text was approved by 604 votes in favor, 20 against and 57 abstentions. (ILKHA)