Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have joined a statement issued by the British Foreign Office, condemning China’s repressions against its Uighur ethnic minority.
The Baltic states were part of 43 countries that expressed concern about “the existence of a large network of 'political re-education' camps where over a million people have been arbitrarily detained”.
“We have seen an increasing number of reports of widespread and systematic human rights violations, including reports documenting torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, forced sterilizstion, sexual and gender-based violence, and forced separation of children,” the statement reads.
Together with the other countries, France called on China “to allow immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang [province] for independent observers”.
Lithuania’s parliament has previously recognised the repressions against Uighurs as a “genocide”.
Read more: Is Eastern Europe's love affair with China coming to an end?
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