(@FahadShabbir)

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called on Beijing on Thursday to provide a "meaningful access" for independent observers to the Chinese northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) amid alleged human rights abuses in the area

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th April, 2019) EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called on Beijing on Thursday to provide a "meaningful access" for independent observers to the Chinese northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) amid alleged human rights abuses in the area.

"I am taking here the opportunity to again publicly urge China to allow meaningful access to Xinjiang for independent observers - some of you have mentioned that and let me once again add my voice - including for the UN and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights," Mogherini said.

In March, the Chinese State Council in a white paper said the authorities had detained nearly 13,000 terrorists in Xinjiang since 2014 as part of efforts to combat extremism and terrorism.

There has been international criticism of the situation in Xinjiang. Up to 1 million ethnic Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims were reportedly held in the "re-education camps" under the pretext of fighting terrorism and religious extremism as of last summer.

The Uyghurs tried to seek independence from China in 1930-40s. In recent years, the Chinese government introduced stricter security measures in the region, justifying their actions by the fight against extremism.

Beijing has also denied the existence of "re-education camps" on numerous occasions, insisting that the country fully complies with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.