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Canadian MPs and advocates are calling on the federal government to resettle in Canada 10,000 Uyghurs and other Turkic refugees who have fled China, the Star reports. Experts, however, warn that it could create a diplomatic rift between Ottawa and Beijing.
Sameer Zuberi, a Liberal MP and chair of Parliament’s foreign affairs subcommittee on international human rights, called last Tuesday for debate on motion M62, introduced in February 2021, which proposes recognizing China’s treatment of the Uyghurs and other Turkic groups as genocide.
The proposal called on Canada to offer 10,000 Uyghurs and other Turkic asylum seekers refugee status starting in 2024. “A genocide is happening, and we have a responsibility to protect people,” Zuberi told the Star.
His motion received endorsement from MPs from all parties, but the Prime Minister and cabinet have remained silent about it.