Board of Deputies of British Jews President Marie van der Zyl has reacted to last night’s vote on the Genocide Amendment to the Trade Bill (the Alton amendment) which was lost by 318 to 300.
Marie said: “Yesterday the Foreign Secretary announced that Britain would be joining the US, Canada and the EU in imposing sanctions against Chinese Government officials who are key perpetrators of the terrible oppression against the Uyghurs taking place in Xinjiang province. Subsequently, the House of Commons voted to secure a select Committee process to assess genocide, which will ensure that there will be no trade deal with genocidal states without Parliamentary scrutiny.
“We thank the Government for acknowledging the necessity of such steps in response to the terrible situation in Xinjiang. We commend the incredible work of Lord Alton, Nusrat Ghani MP, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China and the World Uyghur Congress in bringing the desperate plight of the Uyghur people to the attention of a much wider audience in the UK.
“The book of Proverbs says that ‘the righteous can fall seven times, but will still rise’. Whatever setbacks there may be, the Board of Deputies will remain steadfast in its support for the Uyghur people and will continue to do what it can to help them in their plight.”