Ignazio Corrao, author. – Mr President, concentration camps are back. There are no other words to describe what is happening in Xinjiang. On paper, the ongoing Chinese ‘strike hard’ campaign in Xinjiang aims to eradicate terrorist threats. In reality, it is used to justify massive abuses, including the establishment of re-education camps or ‘education through labour’ camps. We are talking about up to a million people arbitrarily detained in camps and exposed to torture, forced indoctrination and collective punishment without, of course, the right to due process. Therefore, the answer is simple: these people are guilty of not being Han Chinese.

Colleagues, what else do we have to witness before taking concrete actions – gas chambers? Mass executions? China has no boundaries on its gross human rights violations, simply because nobody dares to enforce such boundaries. Therefore, in light of the overwhelming evidence of grave abuses in Xinjiang, I call on the European Union to take appropriate measure that match the gravity of the situation. In this respect, targeted sanctions against Party Secretary Chen Quanguo can no longer be delayed.