China should grant “meaningful access” to UN investigators seeking to probe reports of human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet wants to send a team to Xinjiang, in northwestern China, to investigate the reports. “We urge China to allow meaningful access to Xinjiang for independent observers, including High Commissioner Bachelet,” Borrell told the UN Human Rights Council. Borrell’s comments follow a vote in the Canadian parliament on Monday to declare China’s treatment of its Uighur minority population a genocide. In December, the International Criminal Court rejected an application from Uighurs in exile to investigate China for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity.

Source: Indian Express February 24, 2021 10:18 UTC