(TibetanReview.net, Mar23’23) – The United Kingdom has on Mar 22 expressed deep concern over the recent UN experts’ report on the forced separation by China of a million Tibetan children from their families for the purpose of Sinicizing them. It has also referred to Russia’s large-scale forced transfer of Ukrainian civilians, including children, to Russia or within Russian-controlled territories of Ukraine, for which the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin on Mar 17.
Addressing the ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, UK’s Human Rights Ambassador Rita French has said, “China’s disregard for universal human rights is deeply concerning and we urge them to reverse oppressive policies in Tibet as well as Xinjiang. UN experts recently reported one million Tibetan children were forcibly separated from their families to assimilate them into majority Han culture.”
She has also said China must implement the recommendations in last year’s Report on Xinjiang by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and uphold its international obligations.
In a further focus on China, French has said that in Hong Kong, rights and freedoms had been further eroded by the continued use of the National Security Law in deliberate attempts to target pro-democracy figures, journalists and businessmen and women, including Jimmy Lai and the 47 pro-democracy advocates.
She has called on China to uphold the commitments it had made in the Joint Declaration, a treaty agreed by the UK and China and registered with the United Nations.