Canadian MPs unanimously vote to resettle 10,000 displaced Uyghurs – National | 24CA News

Members of Parliament have unanimously referred to as on Ottawa to start out a refugee program to resettle 10,000 Uyghurs fleeing persecution in China.

“This is an important moment today where we are standing together as one,” Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi instructed reporters on Parliament Hill.

“We have hard work to do ahead of us. We will do this work.”

The Montreal MP proposed a movement final June calling on the federal government to develop a plan inside 100 days to resettle 10,000 Uyghur individuals and different Muslims of Turkic origin to Canada.

That provides Ottawa till May 12 to provide you with the define of a program that the movement says ought to begin in 2024 and meet its goal inside two years.

The concept is to resettle people who find themselves residing in international locations comparable to Turkey reasonably than bringing them straight from China, with Zuberi arguing that there isn’t a protected method to do the latter.

MPs handed the movement unanimously Wednesday within the Commons. It earned 322 votes, together with that of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

After passing the movement, MPs from completely different events shook palms and hugged. Zuberi pumped his fist within the air as dozens of individuals sporting conventional Uyghur clothes clapped, with some cheering, “Thank you, Canada” from the general public galleries.

While non-public members’ motions are non-binding, Zuberi took the help of Trudeau’s cupboard as an indication his authorities will comply with by.

“This is a promise to the Canadian people, to the international community, that we will do this,” he instructed reporters, flanked by Uyghur advocates.

“I will push for people to be saved without any delay.”

Mehmet Tohti, head of the Ottawa-based Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, stated the Uyghur diaspora in Canada is able to assist officers craft a plan and put it into motion.

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He alleged that Chinese officers phoned him on Jan. 16 from his cousin’s hospital room in China, as an intimidation tactic forward of Wednesday’s vote.

Tohti stated his two sisters died in focus camps in China, and his three brothers have disappeared.

“Doing advocacy against China is not easy, and many of our community members in Canada, Uyghur-Canadians, they sacrifice their family members just to speak up,” he instructed reporters.

“For that reason, we value this motion and we value the will of the Canadian Parliament.”

The UN Human Rights Office reported final August that China is committing “grave human rights violations” towards Uyghur individuals within the Xinjiang area, and that some who fled to different international locations have been “forcibly returned.”

Beijing has rejected such stories, characterizing them as makes an attempt to smear a rising China. But the nation has severely restricted media reporting and human-rights evaluation in Xinjiang.

China insists it’s implementing “re-education” camps to weed out Islamic radicalization after lethal assaults, however its officers stand accused of perpetrating sexual violence and compelled labour.

Thousands of Uyghurs have sought refuge in international locations comparable to Turkey, the place they face a threat of being despatched again to China.

A report by the Wilson Center suppose tank in Washington discovered that between 1997 and 2022, some 1,574 Uyghurs in international locations overseas had been detained or despatched again to China, the place most had been imprisoned or tortured.

The Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project stated that it could monitor Canada’s progress, and that Wednesday’s vote units an instance for different democracies.

The Commons had handed a movement in February 2021 that acknowledged China’s therapy of the Uyghur individuals as a genocide, although Trudeau’s cupboard abstained from the vote, saying extra worldwide investigations had been wanted.

The authorities continued that line of argument in responses to petitions tabled this week in Parliament.

And whereas Zuberi’s movement famous the results of the February 2021 vote, it didn’t ask voting MPs to once more designate China’s actions as a genocide.

Zuberi stated he was inspired that Wednesday’s vote included help from Trudeau and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, which he chalked as much as the truth that extra info has been rising concerning the scenario in Xinjiang.

“This was the first time that cabinet pronounced itself on the issue of the Uyghurs,” he stated.

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