Canada’s Parliament on Wednesday unanimously approved Canada’s launch of a welcome program to accept 10,000 Uighur refugees fleeing repression in China.
With 322 votes in favor and none against, the motion urges the Canadian government to develop a plan over the next four months to take in 10,000 Uighurs and other Muslims of Turkic origin over the next two years, reports CBC Canada.
However, this motion is not binding, so it is limited to «a promise to the Canadian people, to the international community,» as stated by Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi.
Zuberi, who proposed the motion last summer, considered the vote in favor of the motion by MPs from all parties, including the support of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to be «a historic moment».
«I am grateful to my parliamentary colleagues for their support,» he said in a series of messages on his official Twitter profile.
For his part, Mehmet Tohti, head of the Uyghur rights advocacy project in Ottawa, has noted that the Uyghur diaspora in Canada «is ready» to help develop a plan and has appreciated the willingness of the Canadian Parliament.
«Advocacy against China is not easy, and many of our community members in Canada, Uyghur Canadians, sacrifice their family members just to speak out,» Tohti told reporters, referring to the disappearance and death of Uyghur minority people.
The UN Human Rights Office reported in August that China is committing «serious human rights violations» against the Uyghur people in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, and that some of those who fled to other countries have been «forcibly returned», a report that has been rejected by Beijing, calling them attempts to defame the country.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
