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

():  Yesterday the member of Fisher and I, as co-chairs, launched the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Uyghurs with the support of several parliamentary colleagues and representatives of Australia's Uighur community, otherwise known as people from East Turkistan or China's Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region.

With their enterprising and strong work ethic, Uighur people have settled well into Australian life and are contributing to Australia's growth and prosperity. They understandably still have a strong attachment to their original homelands, and the family members and friends they left behind, where allegations of widescale human rights violations—including mass detention and re-education camps; slave labour; forced marriages; destruction of culture, language, religion and music; and intense surveillance and brutality—have been the subject of reports by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and numerous investigative journalists.

The priorities for the Australian Uighur community are compassionate assessment and an increased quota for Uighur visa applications to Australia, enforcement of Magnitsky Act sanctions against those responsible for human rights violations and for Australia to stand strongly against slave labour.

Whilst we are nearing the end of this parliamentary term, yesterday's launch was an important first step towards an ongoing parliamentary friendship group that will give voice and hope to Uighur people both here in Australia and in their homelands.