US lawmakers turn focus to plight of Uyghurs in China

US lawmakers turn focus to plight of Uyghurs in China
Qelbinur Sidik, left, shown in this picture during the 2021 hearings of independent Uyghur Tribunal, was among the witnesses in the special US House committee hearing on March 23, 2023, in Washington. (AP File)
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Updated 24 March 2023

US lawmakers turn focus to plight of Uyghurs in China

US lawmakers turn focus to plight of Uyghurs in China
  • Female Uyghur detainees were held by the thousands, heads shaved, tortured and gang-raped, witness testifies
  • China is accused of sweeping over a million Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minority groups into detention camps

WASHINGTON: Two women who experienced life in Chinese “reeducation” camps for Uyghurs told lawmakers Thursday of lives under imprisonment and surveillance, rape and torture as a special House committee focused on countering China shined a light on human rights abuses in the country.
Qelbinur Sidik, a member of China’s ethnic Uzbek minority who was forced to teach Chinese in separate detention facilities for Uyghur men and women, told lawmakers of male Uyghur detainees held chained and shackled in cells so tiny they had to crawl out when authorities summoned them. “They were called by numbers for interrogations. And then you would hear horrible screaming sounds from torture,” she said.
Innocent female Uyghur detainees were held by the thousands, heads shaved, in gray uniforms, Sidik said. Guards tortured the women by electric shocks and by gang rape, sometimes combining both. “And I have witnessed an 18- to 20-year-old girl” slowly bleed to death from the treatment, Sidik said.
Reeducation camps intended to drain the Uyghur inmates of their language, religious beliefs and customs forced men and women into “11 hours of brainwashing lessons on a daily basis,” testified Gulbahar Haitiwaji, a Uyghur who spent more than two years in two reeducation camps and police stations.
“Before eating, we have to praise them, say that we are grateful ... for China’s Communist Party and we are grateful for (President) Xi Jinping,” Haitiwaji said. “And after, to finish eating, we have to praise them again.”
Accused of “disorder” and detained with 30 to 40 people in a cell meant for nine, the Uyghur woman said, she and other female detainees were chained to their beds for 20 days at one point.
Detention left her gaunt. Freed and sent to France thanks to a pressure campaign by her family there in 2019, she was given more food by Chinese authorities before her release, so her appearance would not speak of her mistreatment.
In parting, Chinese officials warned Haitiwaji that “whatever I had witnessed in the concentration camp I should not talk about it,” she said. “If I do, they will retaliate against my family back home.”
The US and many other governments, the United Nations, and human rights groups accuse China of sweeping a million or more people from its Uyghur community and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minority groups into detention camps, where many have said they were tortured, sexually assaulted, and forced to abandon their language and religion. China denies the accusations, which are based on evidence including interviews with survivors and photos and satellite images from Uyghur’s home province of Xinjiang, a major hub for factories and farms in far western China.
“For a long time, some US politicians have repeatedly used Xinjiang-related issues to stir up rumors and engage in political manipulation under the pretext of human rights, in an attempt to tarnish China’s image and curb China’s development,” said Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington.
The Chinese government’s actions in Xinjiang were about “countering violence, terrorism, radicalization and separatism,” the embassy spokesman insisted.
The accusations also include draconian birth control policies, all-encompassing restrictions on people’s movement and forced labor.
The early focus on the plight of Uyghurs by the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party is designed to show the Chinese government’s true nature, said Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, the committee’s Republican chairman.
“They are the first-hand witnesses to the systemic, unimaginable brutality, witnesses to the attempted elimination of a people, a culture, a civilization,” Gallagher said Thursday.
In advance of the hearing, human rights experts talked about the importance of focusing on treatment of the Uyghurs, including Elisha Wiesel. He is the son of the late Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and the author of the memoir “Night” about his experiences during the Holocaust and living in concentration camps.
“Looking at the world stage right now, it’s clear to me that there is no crime on such a massive scale taking place as what’s taking place with the Uyghur people,” Wiesel said.
Wiesel said that both the Trump and Biden administrations had been active on the topic, and pointed to passage of a bill on forced labor and sanctions against companies shown to be using forced labor of Uyghurs. “This is exactly the sort of pressure that needs to be continued,” he said.
Laura Murphy, a researcher at Sheffield Hallam University in the United Kingdom, specializes in American businesses that draw on forced labor. She said it was important for the United States to keep identifying and penalizing companies using Uyghur forced labor.
“Most companies ... they not only don’t know, they intentionally don’t know,” Murphy said.
Outside of the sectors of cotton and components of solar panels, two industries in China that the US and others say relies heavily on forced labor by detained Uyghurs, companies that draw on supplies from China “would prefer not to look into it,” she said.
“So long as businesses continue to do business with the Uyghur region ... they are financing a genocide,” Murphy said.
The US should step up legislation rewarding companies that have shown they make no use of Uyghur forced labor, in terms of access to US markets, and increase information-sharing on companies that haven’t, she said.
The hearing also comes following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Russia to show support for President Vladimir Putin, underscoring just how badly US relations with China have deteriorated.
“What we’re seeing here is increasingly a de facto alliance against America and our allies to try and undercut our interests,” Gallagher said.
The formation of the special China committee this year was a top priority of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., but close to 150 Democrats also voted for the committee’s creation, and its work has been unusually bipartisan so far.
“This hearing is important because what happens to the Uyghur community in China impacts Americans at home,” said the committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois. “It’s in the goods produced with slave labor, it’s the degradation of human rights that makes the world less safe, and it’s the ceaseless persecution of Uyghurs abroad that includes those living in America.”
Haitiwaji, the ethnic Uyghur woman testifying before the committee, said she is speaking out because she feels an obligation to speak for those still languishing in detention centers. She is calling on lawmakers to follow the example of Canada, which has adopted a policy of accepting 10,000 Uyghur refugees from around the world.
“Please rescue Uyghur and other Turkic refugees, like Canada has done,” she said in her prepared remarks. “Please stop American companies from continuing to be complicit in surveilling our people and profiting from their labor.”


BBC, British Airways and Boots staff data compromised by alleged Russian cyberhack

BBC, British Airways and Boots staff data compromised by alleged Russian cyberhack
Updated 58 min 25 sec ago

BBC, British Airways and Boots staff data compromised by alleged Russian cyberhack

BBC, British Airways and Boots staff data compromised by alleged Russian cyberhack
  • British Airways, owned by IAG, said it had notified affected employees and was providing them with support
  • The attack has been linked to a Russian cyber gang called Clop by experts

LONDON: British Airways and retailer Boots said their staff were among those hit by a cyberattack on Zellis, a payroll provider used by hundreds of companies in Britain.

The BBC also suffered a data breach, it said.

British Airways, owned by IAG, said it had notified affected employees and was providing them with support.

“We have been informed that we are one of the companies impacted by Zellis’ cybersecurity incident which occurred via one of their third-party suppliers called MOVEit,” BA said in a statement on Monday.

Part of the Walgreens Boots Alliance, Boots said the attack had included some of its employees’ personal details.

“Our provider assured us that immediate steps were taken to disable the server,” Boots said.

Boots employs over 50,000 people in Britain, while British Airways has about 30,000 staff.

A BBC a spokesperson said: “We are aware of a data breach at our third-party supplier, Zellis, and are working closely with them as they urgently investigate the extent of the breach.”

“We take data security extremely seriously and are following the established reporting procedures.

The attack has been linked to a Russian cyber gang called Clop by experts, who suggest the group gained access through a backdoor in a file transfer software used by Zellis.

The software in question is called MOVEit and is owned by Progress Software.

US security researchers warned on Thursday hackers had stolen data from the systems of a number of users of the file transfer tool MOVEit Transferone one day after the maker of the software disclosed that a security flaw had been discovered.

The compromised data includes names, addresses and national insurance numbers, said the Daily Telegraph newspaper, which first reported which companies had been affected by the breach.

* With Reuters


Indonesia hosts geopolitical rivals in multinational naval drills 

The Indonesian Navy hosts delegates from more than 30 countries in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
The Indonesian Navy hosts delegates from more than 30 countries in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
Updated 05 June 2023

Indonesia hosts geopolitical rivals in multinational naval drills 

The Indonesian Navy hosts delegates from more than 30 countries in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
  • 36 countries are participating in the 2023 Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo 
  • Naval drills can ‘contribute positively’ to regional security, peace, host Indonesia says 

JAKARTA: Indonesia launched on Monday a multilateral naval exercise attended by more than 30 countries, including US and China, amid rising geopolitical tension.

The Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo, which was first held in 2014, is on its fourth edition and will run until June 8 in waters off Makassar, South Sulawesi. This year’s Komodo drills will see participation from 36 countries, the Indonesian Navy said in a statement.

“This exercise aims to enhance diplomatic capabilities, international cooperation, strengthen relationships and build cooperation with friendly nations,” Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Mohammed Ali said during the opening ceremony.

In 2023, participating countries include the US, Australia, China, India, the UK, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, and Russia. The last Komodo exercise took place in 2018 before suspensions over COVID-19.

“The participation of representatives from friendly navies demonstrates the importance of this activity in the international agenda that can contribute positively to achieving regional security, stability and peace,” Ali said, adding that at least 17 foreign warships will join the drills.

The exercises also seek to “improve operational readiness and interoperability between the navy and maritime agencies in the region,” Ali said, especially to address “various threats other than military operation.”

He added: “This exercise is also expected to be a forum for the exchange of knowledge and experience among participants to facilitate coordination in dealing with various crisis situations in an integrated manner.”

The Komodo exercises come as China and the US ramp up military diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region, staging more frequent war games with allies and partners around Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea.

China has conducted military exercises with Laos, Singapore and Cambodia this year, while the US launched just last week the first trilateral maritime exercises with Japan and the Philippines.

China-US relations have grown tense as friction between the world’s two largest economies arose from Beijing’s claims over Taiwan and its military activity in the resource-rich South China Sea. 


Bangladeshi women praise Saudi ‘special care’ for Hajj pilgrims

Bangladeshi women pilgrims have thanked Saudi authorities for treating them with care and kindness. (Supplied)
Bangladeshi women pilgrims have thanked Saudi authorities for treating them with care and kindness. (Supplied)
Updated 05 June 2023

Bangladeshi women praise Saudi ‘special care’ for Hajj pilgrims

Bangladeshi women pilgrims have thanked Saudi authorities for treating them with care and kindness. (Supplied)
  • Bangladesh is sending about 125,000 individuals for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, more than double the quota it received last year, when it was 60,000

DHAKA: Bangladeshi women pilgrims have lauded Hajj operations in Saudi Arabia, describing their experience so far as smooth while thanking authorities in the Kingdom for treating them with care and kindness. 

Bangladesh is sending about 125,000 individuals for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, more than double the quota it received last year, when it was 60,000. This year, over 35,000 pilgrims will be women. 

Hajj flights from the country commenced on May 21 and with Hajj expected to begin on June 26, over 57,000 Bangladeshis have already arrived in Saudi Arabia. 

As they continued their spiritual journey, Bangladeshi women told Arab News they were delighted by the thoughtful attention they received in the Kingdom.

For Eva Haque, such treatment was extended to her as soon as she landed in Saudi Arabia, when she found herself unwell. 

“I was hospitalized for one day. As a Hajj pilgrim, I received very special care from all the doctors and nurses at the hospital. They took care of me as though I were one of their closest family members,” the 43-year-old told Arab News. 

Following treatment, she felt fit to start following Hajj rituals. Haque, who is from Dhaka, believes the pilgrimage will be good for her well-being. 

“My health has not been good for the last two years, so I intended to perform the holy Hajj this year as I believe it will bring mental peace and heal my pains,” Haque said. 

“I will never forget the hospitality and cordial behaviors of the hospital staff. They made me feel like I was home. Words are not enough to convey my gratitude.” 

That Saudi hospitality was also felt by Umm Kulsum, a 64-year-old pilgrim from the Sylhet district in northeast Bangladesh.

When she became lost trying to reach her hotel last week, Kulsum said a Hajj volunteer in Madinah helped her find her way back.

“Seeing me in a puzzled situation suddenly, a volunteer came to help me. I was able to mention my hotel name and the volunteer assisted me to reach the hotel gate easily,” she told Arab News. “I pray from the core of my heart for the well-being of that young man.

“I am amazed to see the management here. It’s a herculean task, but people here with the management are so well-trained that everything is running very smoothly.”

In moments when women need specific care and attention, Shehnaz Begum said she saw Saudi authorities addressing the issues subtly, while also keeping the women’s comfort in mind. 

As she is traveling with her youngest son this time around, Begum said she might consider going solo for her future pilgrimage. 

“Maybe, in my next pilgrimage, I will travel alone as the Kingdom now allows single women to perform Hajj without their male guardians,” she said. 

Like many pilgrims who had waited years to perform Hajj, Begum found herself unable to hold back tears when she arrived in Madinah. 

“By the grace of the Almighty, I have landed in the Holy Land after waiting so many years,” Begum told Arab News. “Thousands of devotees from different countries of the world are walking side by side, offering prayers together. But everything remains peaceful here. It’s like a celestial moment on Earth.

“I must thank the Kingdom authorities for managing this great task in a smooth way.”


UK to house hundreds more migrants on barges, Sunak says

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travels aboard Border Force cutter 'HMC Seeker' during a visit to the English Channel.
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travels aboard Border Force cutter 'HMC Seeker' during a visit to the English Channel.
Updated 05 June 2023

UK to house hundreds more migrants on barges, Sunak says

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travels aboard Border Force cutter 'HMC Seeker' during a visit to the English Channel.
  • Two more barges will house about 1,000 migrants, Sunak said, alongside one that’s set to be docked in Portland in southern England within the next two weeks

LONDON: The UK government will house hundreds more asylum-seekers on barges, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Monday, as he unveiled the latest migration figures that he said showed that his plans to crack down on small boat crossings on the English Channel are working.
Two more barges will house about 1,000 migrants, Sunak said, alongside one that’s set to be docked in Portland in southern England within the next two weeks. The move is meant to help save millions in taxpayers’ money currently spent to house asylum-seekers in hotels across the country.
Sunak told reporters that compared to the same time last year, the number of people making the dangerous sea crossing on small vessels from northern France to the southern English coast so far this year has decreased by a fifth. He suggested that the UK was doing better than other countries in Europe, where he said unauthorized migrant crossings have increased by a third over the same period.
Figures from the Home Office show that about 7,600 people were detected crossing the English Channel so far this year, compared with almost 10,000 last June. However, it is difficult to tell whether the decrease was linked to Sunak’s government’s policies or other factors such as weather conditions. The summer months typically see much higher numbers making the journey.
Sunak also said that the number of Albanian migrants arriving by small boats has fallen by almost 90 percent, and that a deal with Albania has seen 1,800 asylum-seekers turned back.
Many of the asylum-seekers arriving in the UK each year hail from conflict zones, including Afghanistan and Syria, though a large number come from Albania, which Sunak’s government describes as a “safe” country.
Sunak has made “Stop the Boats” his flagship policy since he took office in October. His government is pushing through a controversial migration bill that seeks to dramatically curb migrants’ ability to seek asylum in the UK Critics, including the UN refugee agency, have decried it as unethical and unworkable, and some say it breaks international law.


Afghan personnel hunted by Taliban denied UK sanctuary

Afghan personnel hunted by Taliban denied UK sanctuary
Updated 05 June 2023

Afghan personnel hunted by Taliban denied UK sanctuary

Afghan personnel hunted by Taliban denied UK sanctuary
  • Mechanics, chefs and laborers rejected by resettlement scheme for failing frontline role criteria
  • ‘We are all the same in the Taliban’s eyes,’ says former interpreter

LONDON: Afghans who worked for the UK military and who are at risk of Taliban reprisal attacks are being refused sanctuary in the UK, The Independent reported.

The revelations are part of an investigation by the newspaper into Britain’s relocation policies regarding Afghan military personnel who aided UK forces.

The Independent’s latest report found that former mechanics, laborers and chefs are being rejected by the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme because they fail to classify as having served in frontline roles alongside British troops. 
But that distinction is not recognized by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers, with the former staff and contractors facing revenge attacks as a result of their work for British forces.
Tobias Ellwood MP, chair of the defense select committee, warned that the Taliban were still hunting Afghan workers who aided Western forces.
He said: “I don’t believe the Taliban share the same criteria. They gained access to databases of all local Afghans who were assisting ISAF forces and local Taliban continue to hunt them down for execution. Each case should be judged on its own merit.”
Some of the Afghans who aided the UK war effort and who fled to the UK in the wake of the Taliban takeover have appealed to the government to help their former colleagues still trapped in Afghanistan.
But Armed Forces Minister James Heappey has said that the government has no intention of expanding the ARAP criteria to include former non-frontline staff and contractors.
An Afghan mechanic who repaired troop carriers and armored vehicles during the conflict was rejected by the scheme last year, but is now appealing the decision through a judicial review.
He was left jobless when British troops pulled out of the country, and later worked for NGOs and as a contractor for private military forces.
But following the Taliban takeover, the man was forced into hiding, with his former colleagues demanding that the UK grant him sanctuary through the ARAP scheme.
A former British Army adviser and colleague of the mechanic told The Independent: “We are trying to do our best for him and his family but he is in a very bad situation. A lot of people are being disappeared and he is all the time hiding himself because many people know that he worked with the British Army.
“Lots of people in the same situation applied for ARAP. I don’t know why ARAP just rejected his case.”
The mechanic’s solicitor, Stephanie Alban, who is challenging the decision, said: “His life is in danger so I thought they would deal with it in days and not weeks. He is in hiding and he has been moving to avoid the Taliban.
“People in the local area would know that he worked for the British. He’s on their record so they will be looking for him and targeting him. It feels like these employees have just been forgotten. You shouldn’t have to do judicial reviews just to get a simple decision on a straightforward case.”
Other Afghan personnel denied by the ARAP scheme have said that they were still exposed to danger and risk despite not serving in frontline combat roles.
A former guard who protected a British Army camp said that he was fired at during a terrorist attack on the base, but was still rejected by the UK on account of his guard role.
Since the Western withdrawal, he has received threats from the Taliban as well as Daesh, which has a small presence in Afghanistan.
As a result, the former guard has moved his family to new homes around the country to avoid reprisal attacks.
In a review into his ARAP application, the man said: “Security at the camp was vital in order to ensure the safety of the British and other NATO soldiers in the camp.
“As such, the camp and the military operations carried out from the camp could not have functioned without the presence of security guards like myself.”
The Independent also spoke to relatives of personnel who have been rejected by ARAP, including former British Army chefs and laborers.
One interpreter said that his brother, a former laborer, had gone into hiding to avoid the Taliban after the Western withdrawal.
“He is in the same risk as me. It is not written on his face that he was a laborer and not an interpreter. We were all working with the British Army and we were all the same in the Taliban’s eyes.
“They have already killed one of our other brothers in front of our family home in 2020. He was working to help the American and British troops and they encountered him and shot him.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We owe a debt of gratitude to those interpreters and other staff eligible under the ARAP scheme who worked for, or with, UK forces in Afghanistan in exposed roles.
“Our absolute priority is supporting the movement of eligible people out of Afghanistan and, to date, we have relocated over 12,200 individuals to the UK under ARAP.