ISLAMABAD—Pakistan is urging China to ease pressures on the country’s Muslim minority amid warnings by human rights groups that the Uyghurs in China face restrictions on religious activities and mass detentions in so-called “re-education camps.”
Pakistan’s minister for religious affairs, Noorul Haq Qadri, met Chinese envoy Yao Xing this week to discuss the situation of the Uyghurs in China’s western Xinjiang region.
Human Right Watch says forcible detentions of “thousands of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities” in Xinjiang started in 2017.
Qadri says such pressures could foment reactionary extremist viewpoints and urged Beijing to take concrete steps on the issue.
Analysts say Pakistan’s move is significant amid growing pressure on China over human rights violations.
The United Nations human rights panel said in August that China is believed to be holding up to 1 million ethnic Uyghurs.
Uyghurs and other Muslims held in concentration camp-like facilities, known as “re-education” centers, are forbidden from using Islamic greetings, must learn Mandarin Chinese, and sing propaganda songs, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.
The Chinese regime has used the excuse of potential Islamic threats and ethnic riots to crack down on the local Muslim population in Xinjiang.
By The Associated Press
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