Mr. Speaker, the next petition highlights the persecution of Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in China. It outlines a number of the abuses they have faced: birth suppression, political and religious indoctrination, arbitrary detention, separation of children from families, invasive surveillance, destruction of cultural sites, forced labour and forced organ harvesting.
Petitioners want to see stronger engagement from Parliament, as well as from the government, in response to these issues. The House of Commons has recognized that Uighurs face genocide. However, the government has not been willing to take that step. Petitioners call on the government to formally recognize that Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in China have been and are being subjected to genocide, and to use the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, the Magnitsky act, to sanction those responsible for heinous crimes committed against the Uighur people.