Parliament of Canada approves hosting 10,000 Uyghur refugees

MADRID, 2 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Parliament of Canada has unanimously approved this Wednesday that the country start a reception program with which it hopes to accept 10,000 Uyghur 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 accommodate 10,000 Uighurs and other Muslims of Turkic origin, all within the next two years, according to reports CBC Canada.

However, this motion is not binding, so it is limited to "a promise to the Canadian people, to the international community," according to Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi.

Said congressman, who proposed the motion last summer, has considered that the vote in favor of parliamentarians from all parties on this matter, including the support of the country's prime minister, Justin Trudeau, is "a historic moment."

"I am grateful to my parliamentary colleagues for their support," he expressed, through a series of messages on his official profile on the social network Twitter.

For his part, Mehmet Tohti, head of the project for the defense of the rights of the Uyghurs in Ottawa, has indicated that the Uyghur diaspora in Canada "is ready" to help develop a plan and has valued the will of the Canadian Parliament.

"Advocating against China is not easy, and many of our community members in Canada, Uyghur Canadians, sacrifice their family members just to talk," Tohti told reporters, referring to the disappearance and death of people from China. Uyghur minority.

The UN Human Rights Office reported in August that China is committing "serious human rights violations" against the Uyghur people in China's Xinjiang region, and that some of those who fled to other countries have been "returned by force", a report that has been rejected by Beijing, describing them as attempts to defame the country.