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China Accused of Using Birth Control to Suppress Uighur Population

China Accused of Using Birth Control to Suppress Uighur Population

The Chinese government has been accused of taking on increasingly forceful and ruthless measures to suppress birth-rates among its Uighur Muslim population, as well as other minorities.

The new alarming accusations were released on Monday by a leading China scholar. A group of prominent politicians are now calling for an independent United Nations investigation into abuses in Xinjiang.

The report warns of sudden fall of Uighur birth-rates

A new report, published by Professor Adrian Zenz, a leading China scholar, alleges that the Chinese government is using new and increasingly forceful methods to suppress the Uighur Muslim population in the country, as well as that of other minorities.

The report says that the Uighur population has experienced a sudden fall in birth-rates and this appears to coincide with reports of a new state policy of intrusive birth prevention, including sterilisation.

Other means, such as forcible family separation, are also believed to have been used.

Zenz, an independent contractor with the non-profit Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, found that growth rates of the Uighur population fell by 84% between 2015 and 2018 in the two largest Uighur prefectures and continued to decline in 2019.

“This may indicate that the Chinese government is pursuing and enforcing a coordinated policy to reduce the population of minority groups. The world cannot remain silent in the face of unfolding atrocities,” said interparliamentary alliance on China (IPAC).

The organisation added that there is mounting evidence of alleged “mass incarceration, indoctrination, extrajudicial detention, invasive surveillance, forced labour, and the destruction of Uighur cultural sites.” Based on these reports, IPAC called on the UN General Assembly to launch a full investigation.

More widespread than believed

Even before the new report, there have been signs that the Chinese government was looking to curb growth rates among minority populations. Reports about forced birth control, especially among Muslim minorities, have been a regular occurrence from asylum seekers. Families having more than three children were subject to penalties and were even arrested.

However, the new report suggests that the methods and tactics used are more widespread than initially believed.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not respond directly to these allegations. However, in the past, Chinese officials went on record to say that the new measures are merely meant to be fair, allowing both Han Chinese and ethnic minorities the same number of children.

For opponents, however, these new reports are nothing but a “wider control campaign to subjugate the Uighurs.”

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