Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As the member for Macarthur noted last week, Uighur people from throughout Australia gathered on the lawns in front of Parliament House to draw attention to rising levels of concern about widespread human rights violations against Uighur people and other minority groups in China, particularly in the province of Xinjiang, otherwise referred to at times as the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, abbreviated as XUAR. A similar rally was held a couple of years ago. The violations against Uighur people and others include: (1) the detention and re-education centres of over one million people, where nonconforming detainees are reportedly subjected to beatings, rape, starvation and numerous other forms of torture—amongst those detained since 2016, 450 Uighur intellectuals have disappeared or are now imprisoned; (2) the forced removal of hundreds of thousands of children from their families, who are then placed in state run institutions; (3) the restriction of free movement, both within and outside of Xinjiang; (4) the intense surveillance of Uighurs through the use of thousands of facial recognition cameras and other surveillance tools; (5) the arrest and incarceration of Uighur people for the most trivial of reasons; (6) the destruction of cultural and religious buildings and institutions—it is estimated that 16,000 mosques, 65 per cent of the total, in XUAR have been destroyed or damaged mostly since 2017; (7) a widespread birth-control program targeting Uighur women; (8) allegations of organ harvesting and people in detention disappearing or suspiciously dying; and (9) the use of detainees as forced labour in Chinese factories.

According to one report, researchers have verified over 380 detention centres across XUAR that were either newly built or significantly expanded, since 2017. There are between 1,300 and 1,400 extra judicial internment facilities, excluding prisons, in XUAR.

China is a party to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. As a signatory to those international conventions, it has committed to honouring them and therefore has a universal obligation to do so. The claims of human rights abuse against Uighur people and other minorities have been debated in the Canadian House of Commons, the Netherlands parliament, and by the UK House of Lords, all of which have raised serious findings against China, including some labelling the human rights violations in Xinjiang as genocide. Over the years I have spoken to numerous Uighur people here in Australia, who tell me they can no longer contact family members in Xinjiang or that their family members are prevented from travelling or, even worse, that they have been detained. I have heard their stories, seen the worry and strain in their faces and, where possible, made representations to the foreign minister on their behalf. There have also been several well-regarded reports from credible organisations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Newlines Institute. They have all raised serious and extensive breaches of human rights in Xinjiang. There is now compelling evidence that there is a strategy of wiping out Uighur identity, including culture, language, history, music, literature, and religion.

As a signatory and founding member of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Australia should raise these allegations with China and within all other UN forums. If the accusations are untrue, China should allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights unrestricted access to Xinjiang so an independent investigation can be carried out. The Morrison government should, of course, be strongly backing that course of action. If China refuses to do so, it can only spell one thing—that they don't wish the matters to be properly investigated.

Australia must stand up for human rights wherever there is a violation and abuse of people and work with international communities standing up for the people being oppressed, persecuted or abused. The Morrison government should also support Australia's Uighur community, who understandably hold grave concerns about the well-being of loved ones and family in their homelands. Finally, the support for this motion will provide a ray of hope for the Uighurs here in Australia.

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