According to Pekka Haavisto, Finland is awaiting a report from the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of China’s minority population. Finland seeks to make an impact through the UN and its Human Rights Council.
Foreign minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) considers the new information published by and the international media on the treatment of Uighurs to be “very worrying”.
reported earlier this week on a large-scale data leak that provides new insight into China’s practice of oppressing Muslim minorities in western Xinjiang Province.
The data confirms previous estimates that China has transferred one to two million Uighurs to detention centers, prisons and camps in Xinjiang. China calls the camps “retraining centers,” where religious extremism, among other things, is eradicated.
– These are issues that we are very concerned about, of course, Haavisto told in Washington on Friday night Finnish time.
Haavisto says that the matter has already been discussed in the UN Human Rights Council, to which Finland also belongs.
– I have the impression that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Michelle) Bachlelet has traveled to China precisely because of these things, and we are awaiting his report on this.
Bachelet’s six-day visit to China is coming to an end. He has also had plans to visit Xinjiang Province. The Commissioner for Human Rights is scheduled to hold a media conference on Saturday afternoon Finnish time.
asked Haavisto whether the new information would affect Finland’s policy towards China in any way.
“Certainly all such human rights issues and others are also taken into account in our relations with China, but above all, of course, we strive to contribute to the improvement of human rights through the UN and the UN Human Rights Council,” Haavisto said.
Upset reaction elsewhere
Several countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Norway and Denmark, have commented on the new information and called on China to take action to end the oppression of Uighurs.
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark Jeppe Koford describes Politiken (switch to another service)in an interview with the magazine to reveal the revelations. According to him, the data reinforce the already existing picture that the abuse of the Uighurs is systematic and very serious.
Koford says he has demanded that China allow Bachelet free and unhindered movement in Xinjiang. According to him, Denmark will raise human rights issues with China and will raise the issue in the EU as well.
The United States is also appalled by the data. According to the U.S. State Department, it is concerned about China’s inability to identify and stop the atrocities. The United States is demanding the release of those arbitrarily detained and an end to torture and the use of force. The United States says it will continue to work with its allies to improve the situation.
The United States considers it possible that actions against the Uighur minority have received a higher level of approval from the Chinese government.