KUALA LUMPUR - Muslim Youth Movement Malaysia (Abim) has asked MPs to raise the ongoing discrimination against the Uyghur community in China at the Dewan Rakyat.
Abim President Faisal Abdul Aziz said 50 organisations have signed a memorandum to protest against the abuse in the Xinjiang area, as China has been accused of committing crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against the Uyghur population.
The memorandum demands the Chinese government respect the human rights of the Uyghur people, in particular their right to life and freedom of religion and belief.
It further calls to immediately stop the persecution and extreme repression of the Uyghur people, to immediately end the use of 'reeducation' camps as hundreds of thousands of innocent Uyghurs have been rounded up by the Chinese authorities into these camps to suffer physical abuse, maltreatment and even torture as well as respecting and protecting the rights and religious freedoms of all its citizens.
It also called on the international community to increase the voices of protest and disfavour upon the Chinese government for acts and omissions that do not respect and uphold the human rights of all people, including the Uyghur people and other religious minorities or communities.
Abim during the Humanitarian Forum: Care for Uyghur held at the Melia Kuala Lumpur Hotel, here also thanked MPs who have voiced out against China on the discrimination against the Uyghur community, stating that it is not easy for MPs to bravely speak on Uyghurs,”
Those present were Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Tangga Batu MP Rusnah Aluai, Ledang MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, Sik MP Tarmizi Sulaiman and Bar Council Malaysia representative Usha Kula.
Others were Bait Al-Amanah founding director Dr Abdul Razak Ahmad, Abim vice-president Khairul Anwar Ismail, East Turkistan Muslim Scholars Union (Turkiye) representative Shaykh Mahmud Muhammed, Uyghur Human Rights Project (United State) executive director Omar Kanat, East Turkistan Muslim Scholars Union (Australia) representative Abdusselam Alim and International Union of East Turkistan Organisation (Turkiye) representative Abduresid Eminhaci.
The forum raised issues over discrimination against the Uyghur people and other minority groups in Xinjiang area.
Nik Nazmi said the MPs will raise the issue during the upcoming Parliament session. "Our country is small, but we are always pushing humanitarian issues.
"I really want to make this issue a cross-party and universal issue because I believe this is relevant to all of us,” he said during the forum.
He hopes for more support from Malaysians especially those who do not believe the discrimination against the community at Xinjiang, China or feel it was just another propaganda brought by the western human rights agencies.
Tangga Batu MP Rusnah Aluai said it is possible for this issue to be brought forward during the upcoming Parliament session because if it gets a good response, they could table an emergency motion to debate on the issue.
She told Sinar Daily that there is a need for this issue to be raised in an organised manner as there is a lack of plan of action from the leaders in the country who had only issued statements over the issue.
"We always heard the ministers saying they have issued a statement but then where is the plan of action? Just issuing statements is not enough,” she said.
She said some Islamic countries are silent over the issue for economic reasons and due to that Malaysia needs to strong economic fundamentals to avoid being controlled by others.
In addition, she said raising awareness through education to the young generation was crucial.
The memorandum also insisted that the internal community work together to improve the situation for the Uyghur people through concrete actions that prioritise to address attempts at forced cultural assimilation that could quite possibly lead to the annihilation of Uyghur identity.