By our silence on Uyghur genocide in China, we are complicit – Tóibín
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD today attended a protest outside the Chinese Embassy about the Chinese government’s treatment of the Uyghur Muslim population.
Deputy Tóibín said:
“I was very happy to attend the protest organised outside the Chinese Embassy on Ailesbury Road today along with some members of Ógra Aontú. The situation in China should be condemned by our government here. For some time now we’ve been seeing the photos, videos and articles showing how the Uyghur population in the region are being sent to ‘thought transformation camps’, herded blindfolded onto busses and subjected to forced sterilisation, forced abortions and forced labour”.
Deputy Tóibín continued: “Its now approaching two months since I wrote a letter to Simon Coveney, Leo Varadkar and Taoiseach Micheál Martin requesting that the Irish government condemn the situation. I was very impressed with the support from across political parties and across the political spectrum for my letter, winding up with twenty signatures from fellow Oireachtas members, including some from the three government parties. Simon Coveney’s response to me was wishy washy. He talked about how statements from the UN, of which Ireland is a member, had previously been issued. Talking about the ‘concerns’ the Irish government had, and how they will ‘monitor’ the situation”.
“Now is not the time for small talk, now is not the time for complacency. These approaches don’t work when dealing with authoritative, dictatorial, oppressive regimes. We need strong condemnation from this government, we cannot stand idly by in silence”, concluded Deputy Tóibín.
