A Westminster Hall debate, in the UK Parliament, was held on Tuesday 29 January, 2019 on 'Human rights in Xinjiang.' This took place between 2:30pm and 4:00pm. The Member leading the debate was Alistair Carmichael MP. This was an opportunity for MPs to raise the issues surrounding human rights in Xinjiang with Mark Field MP, Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific. A number of MPs, cross-party, highlighted concerns and asked questions including calling for an independent investigation, the planned Home Office response to Uyghur asylum seekers, whether British companies are, wittingly or unwittingly, involved in the sale of technology for use in Xinjiang, the role of Hikvision CCTV, and to consider Magnitsky powers on Chen Quanguo, Communist Party Secretary of Xinjiang. Mark Field MP responded by stating that the British government are deeply concerned about the situation, have been raising the issue publicly and in private and repeated calls for China to implement recommendations made by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). See our submission here.     

Read our latest briefing 'The Human Rights Situation in Xinjiang' including the British government response and role of British businesses.