US House urges Biden to refer Uighur 'genocide' to United Nations

The US House of Representatives introduced a bipartisan resolution on Wednesday, strongly condemning China’s ill-treatment of the Uighur community and other minorities, especially in the Xinjiang region.

Labelling it as 'genocide', the authorities have urged US President Joe Biden to refer these atrocities to the United Nations.

"The resolution calls upon President Biden to refer these atrocities to the United Nations for investigation under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide," the US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks and another member Michael McCaul said in a joint press release.

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Through this, the experts are seeking multilateral sanctions against the Chinese government in the UN Security Council (UNSC) to "bring the genocide to an end".

Meeks urged global solidarity against the ill treatment. "China's human rights violations against the Uighur community in Xinjiang are beyond the pale. The international community needs to stand together and condemn the horrific treatment of China's ethnic minorities, who have undergone mass detention and seen their way of life threatened," he said.

This has come a day after the Uighur Human Rights Protection Act was introduced by US Senators Marco Rubio and Chris Coons. Through this, people suffering in the region at the hands of the Chinese government would become eligible for US refugee status on a priority basis.

"The Uighur Human Rights Protection Act would make it easier for Uighurs and members of other Turkic or Muslim minority groups to apply for resettlement in the United States, and it encourages our allies and partners to implement similar policies," Coons had announced.