PARIS: Paris on Tuesday said the imprisonment of ethnic and religious minorities in China’s western Xinjiang region is “unacceptable” and demanded that Beijing let independent human rights observers visit the area.
Rights groups and experts estimate that more than one million ethnic Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking minorities have been rounded up into a network of internment camps.
“France is closely following all the testimonies relayed by the press and through human rights organizations,” Foreign Affairs minister Jean-Yves le Drian told parliament.
“According to information that we read or have, there are imprisonment camps for Uighurs, mass detentions, disappearances, forced labor, forced sterilizations, the destruction of Uighur heritage,” Le Drian said.
“All these actions are unacceptable. We condemn them firmly,” added Le Drian, prompting applause in parliament.
He said France wanted China to allow access to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
His comments come as tensions between the West and China are rising over a new draconian security law in Hong Kong and mounting opposition to the use of products made by Chinese telecom giant Huawei.
Earlier this month, the US slapped sanctions on senior Chinese officials, demanding an end to the “horrific” abuse of Uighurs, and on Monday blacklisted 11 Chinese firms for alleged complicity in the repression.
On Sunday, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab accused Beijing of “gross, egregious human rights abuses.”
Beijing denies any wrongdoing, saying Uighurs are attending vocational training centers, and has imposed retaliatory sanctions on three US senators.
France slams ‘unacceptable’ Chinese imprisonment of Uighurs
https://arab.news/zcu5b
France slams ‘unacceptable’ Chinese imprisonment of Uighurs
- Rights groups and experts estimate that more than one million ethnic Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking minorities have been rounded up into a network of internment camps
- Jean-Yves le Drian: There are imprisonment camps for Uighurs, mass detentions, disappearances, forced labor, forced sterilizations, the destruction of Uighur heritage
South African diamond mining company says 5 trapped miners presumed dead and files for liquidation
- The incident occurred in the early hours of Feb. 17 at the Ekapa Mine in Kimberley
- “This marks the end of 158 years of continuous diamond mining in Kimberley,” CEO Jahn Hohne said
JOHANNESBURG: Five miners who were trapped last week after a mudslide flooded a shaft remain unaccounted for and are “now presumed deceased,” the owners of the diamond mining company in South Africa said Wednesday, announcing that it had filed for liquidation and shut the mine.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Feb. 17 at the Ekapa Mine in Kimberley, the capital of Northern Cape province, when a sudden surge of water, mud and rock in minutes inundated an underground section of the mine, blocking access to its lowest mining level, around 800 meters (half a mile) underground.
The mine owners, Ekapa Resources and Ekapa Minerals, said despite rescue efforts that included drilling and assessments by specialist teams conditions were confirmed to be unsurvivable as tunnels were filled with mud and water with no signs of life. A search operation is ongoing.
At the same time, the owners announced the immediate closure of the mine where the incident occurred and petitioned the courts to be placed in liquidation.
The decision came after an internal evaluation found that, given the protracted worldwide diamond market downturn, exacerbated by the recent tragedy, the company is unable to continue meeting its financial responsibilities, it said.
“This marks the end of 158 years of continuous diamond mining in Kimberley,” CEO Jahn Hohne said in a statement. “A legacy the company acknowledges with humility and respect.”
The National Union of Mineworkers of South Africa (Numsa), considered the largest single trade union in South Africa, told the state broadcaster it was “shocked” by the move, which puts the jobs of about 1,200 workers at risk. The union said it would be meeting with its legal teams to discuss a course of action to possibly block the liquidation.
“The situation is very devastating,” Numsa Kimberley organizer Lerato Mohatlane told the SABC. “If the mine is indeed liquidated, it is clear that all the 1,200 workers will then lose their jobs.”
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said it is set to meet with the firm and be briefed on what has transpired and ways forward.
South Africa is among the world’s biggest producers of diamonds and gold, and the top producer of platinum.
