VATICAN CITY, KOMPAS.com – For the first time, Pope Francis declared that Muslim Uighur which is in China experiencing persecution. Something that has been emphasized to him by human rights activists.
In the book entitled Let Us Dream: the Path to a Better FutureThe Pope stated that he was thinking of a number of groups that were being treated unfairly.
Also read: VW auto company denies Uighur ethnic forced labor at its Xinjiang factory
“I often think of the people who were persecuted: the Rohingya ethnic group, the unfortunate Uighur, Yazidi …” he said while commenting on other religious people who got persecuted.
Pope Francis has already mentioned the Rohingya who fled from Rakhine in Myanmar, or the Yazidi killings carried out by ISIS in Iraq.
But as reported Reuters via The Guardian Monday (11/23/2020), this is the first time the 83-year-old Pope has mentioned about Uighurs.
Religious leaders, human rights activists, and other countries have highlighted allegations of genocide and humanitarian violations committed by China against Muslim Uighur.
It is believed there are at least one million Uighurs and other ethnic minorities imprisoned in camps in the Xinjiang Region.
Beijing has repeatedly denied the accusations, denouncing the allegations as merely an attempt to discredit them.
“Panda Country” emphasized that the camps in Xinjiang are centers of vocational training and education, aimed at cleaning citizens from the seeds of radicalism.
Many observers say the Vatican is reluctant to comment on it because they are in the process of renewing a controversial agreement with China.
The agreement that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo commented on, which he called on the Vatican to leave, was updated last September.
Also read: China Attempts to Recover Name of Uighur Human Rights Violations in Xinjiang
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