Dutch Parliament Makes Genocide Determination Regarding China’s Persecution of Uyghurs

A month after the United States Department of State officially designated the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of Uyghurs as genocide, and just four days after the Canadian Parliament made the same determination, the Dutch Parliament has now joined the chorus of countries calling out the People’s Republic of China for its crimes against humanity and genocidal acts against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities.

The non-binding motion, introduced by 11 Dutch MPs – Sjoerdsma, Van Ojik, Van Helvert, Voordewind, Van Kooten-Arissen, Van de Hul, Krol, Van Otterloo, Van Raan, and Karabulut – states the following [translated to English], and was passed in a vote of 95-54:

“The Chamber, (AO d.d.21/01) heard the debate, whereas the Netherlands is a champion of human rights against crimes against humanity; whereas the People’s Republic of China deals with acts covered by United Nations Resolution 260, commonly known as the ‘Genocide Convention’, including the holding of penal camps and the implementation of measures designed to prevent births within a specific group; declares that genocide is taking place in China against the Uighur minority, and proceeds to the order of the day.”

Those that voted against the motion included members of Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party. Foreign Minister Stef Blok explained that the Dutch government did not favor using the term ‘genocide’ as it has not yet been declared by the United Nations or an international court; however, he asserted that “The situation of the Uighurs is a cause of great concern.”

Also on February 25, three other related motions on China were similarly introduced, some of which were outright rejected and some passed:

  • Motion by members Van Helvert and Sjoerdsma about calling for more concrete agreements with China within the European Union regarding the improvement of the human rights situation [passed by vote of 95-54]: “The Chamber, having heard the debate, noting that the European Union and China have concluded an investment treaty, whereas in China the human rights of, among other, the Uighurs, Christians, Falun Gong practitioners and Tibetans are not respected; whereas the Chinese Government has introduced a controversial Hong Kong Security Act over the past year; noting that the investment agreement has made few concrete agreements on human rights and labour rights; calls on the Government to call within the European Union for more concrete agreements with China on improving the human rights situation; calls on the Government not to agree to the CAII Investment Treaty until China has taken a concrete and verifiable step towards improving human rights; calls on the Government to discuss possible consequences within the European Union if concrete progress on human rights in China is implemented, and proceeds to the order of the day.”
  • Modified motion by Member Kuzu on bringing a case against China to the International Court of Justice [rejected by vote of 3-146]: “The Chamber, having heard the debate, noted that China has been systematically oppressing and imprisoning the Uighurs in so-called labour camps for many years; whereas China’s behaviour is unacceptable and the Netherlands must do everything in its best to prevent China from committing crimes against humanity; calls on the Government to bring a case before the International Court of Justice against China over the genocide of Uighurs committed by China; calls on the government to grant asylum to at least 10,000 Uighurs by invitation, and proceeds to the order of the day.”
  • Motion by member Sjoerdsma about calling on the International Olympic Committee to postpone the 2022 Olympic games [narrowly rejected by vote of 73-76]: “Whereas the Netherlands is a champion of human rights and opposes crimes against humanity; The Chamber, having heard the debate, considers that the People’s Republic of China deals with acts covered by United Nations Resolution 260, commonly known as the ‘Genocide Convention’, including the holding of penal camps and the implementation of measures intended to prevent births within a specific group; calls on the Cabinet to call on the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Olympic Games if China continues this terrible policy, and proceeds to the order of the day.”

The Dutch Parliament’s passing of the motion on Uyghur genocide determination has been met with gratitude from international human rights organizations and Uyghur diaspora organizations:

“We thank the Dutch Parliament for officially recognizing China’s atrocities against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan as genocide. The East Turkistan Government in Exile strongly encourages the international community to support our ongoing case against China at the International Criminal Court and pressure the International Olympic Committee to relocate the upcoming Winter 2022 Olympics from China to another country not engaged in genocide.”East Turkistan Government in Exile

Cover image by Mary Crandall on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)