Japan’s Uyghur lawmaker Arfiya Eri: “If these actions against the Uyghurs were to happen in any other region, anywhere else in the world, we would see the UN rise to stronger statements. We would see the international community rise for stronger response”.
Japan’s Uyghur lawmaker Arfiya Eri gave an exclusive interview to Hindustan Times on October 27, 2024. Eri first focused on her reasons for becoming a member of the Japanese parliament and her political ideals. She then described the situation of Uyghurs facing China’s genocidal policies.
Eri expressed her views that international pressure should be increased to stop the genocide, that Japan and other countries should put pressure on China, that China should not be ignored on human rights issues, and that the Uyghur genocide should be made an urgent issue to be resolved.
Japonya'nın Uygur milletvekili Arfiya Eri, bir röportajda Çin'in soykırım politikalarıyla karşı karşıya kalan Uygurların durumunu anlattı. Soykırımını durdurmak için Çin'e yönelik uluslararası baskının arttırılması gerektiğini vurguladı.
— Uygur Haber (@UygurHaber) October 30, 2024
👉 https://t.co/34cKfFY0uZ pic.twitter.com/k2trT4TyDU
REPRESSION REACHED UNPRECEDENTED LEVELS IN 2016
“I definitely see there’s a significant lack of progress when it comes to Uyghur human rights crisis. As early as 2016, we started seeing evidence of mass detainment at a scale never seen before. Of course, this region has always suffered from human rights issues, and I think we all know that. But starting from 2016, we’ve seen the scale of that abuse really exaggerate and scale up to an extent we haven’t seen before,” Eri said in her speech.
LAWYERS, DOCTORS AND PROFESSORS ARRESTED
Stating that all the events started with the mass and illegal arrests of Uyghur people, Eri said, “but it also led to mass surveillance in the entire region using advanced technologies like facial recognition technology. This surveillance technology monitored what was happening on phones and what people were saying when communicating with others. It also extended to the rise of orphanages in the region because so many orphans were being left behind with their parents detained,” Eri said.
Noting the arrests of professionals, Eri said, “And then we started seeing evidence of forced labor – lawyers, doctors, professors were being arrested and sent to forced labor in the region and outside of the region in factories across China. Now, regarding mass atrocities of this scale, the United States has already declared that more than 2 million people have been detained. We expect that number to have risen.”
ACTIONS AGAINST THE UYGHURS ARE GENOCIDE
“Under the genocide attention of the UN, where Japan is still not a signatory to, forced sterilization of women and forced separation of children from their parents – all of these things are seen as a definition of genocide, and we are seeing these acts happen in the region in real time,” she said.
“If this were to happen in any other region, anywhere else in the world, we would see the United Nations rise to stronger statements. We would see the international community rise for stronger response, including response from outside, that would call for more independent investigation as to the realities of what is happening on the ground,” she said.
Referring to the UN report on the Uyghurs, Eri said, “The United Nations has visited the region once and has issued a report stating that there might be possible crimes against humanity happening in the region. But we have not seen any further steps, any substantive further action taken since then, and I would like to see all of those steps being followed as we would see in any other human rights crises around the world.”
ERİ RE-ELECTED AS A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
Arfiya Eri is a member of Japan’s lower house of parliament, the House of Representatives (Diet), from the Liberal Democratic Party, representing the 5th District of Chiba Prefecture. At just 36 years old, Arfiya, of Uyghur origin, is the youngest woman in Japan’s parliament.
In the Japan-wide parliamentary elections held on October 27, 2024, Eri, who was the Liberal Democratic Party’s candidate, was re-elected for another term.
ONE OF THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL YOUNG GLOBAL LEADERS
In 2023, Time Magazine named Arfiya one of the 100 Most Influential Young Global Leaders. Arfiya has a decade of experience in public policy, having worked for the United Nations and the Bank of Japan before entering politics.
Arfiya holds a B.A. in Foreign Service and an M.A. in Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (specializing in modern Uyghur Studies) from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
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