Jakarta rally targets China over Uighurs

Hundreds of Indonesians, angry at China's treatment of its Uighur Muslim minority, have rallied outside the Chinese embassy in Jakarta.

Indonesian Muslim women hold protests banners during a rally in front of Chinese Embassy in Jakarta.

Indonesian Muslim women hold protests banners during a rally in front of Chinese Embassy in Jakarta. Source: AAP

Hundreds of Indonesians have rallied outside the Chinese embassy in Jakarta to denounce China's treatment of its Uighur Muslim minority.

The mainly Muslim protesters displayed banners calling for freedom for Muslims from the Uighur ethnic group in China's far-western Xinjiang province.

"Let's unite to free Uighur Muslims," read one poster.
"Free East Turkestan," said another, the term used by Uighur separatists for their region.

Calls are growing in Indonesia for the government to pressure China on the alleged human rights violations against the Uighurs.

A UN panel in August said as many as one million Uighurs are being held in what appears to be a "massive internment camp."

Beijing has spent decades trying to suppress pro-independence sentiment in Xinjiang province, home to millions of Muslims.
The Indonesian Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned China's ambassador in Jakarta to raise concerns about the issue.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said the Chinese deputy ambassador made assurances that the human rights of the Uighurs are being respected.

On Thursday, the Chinese embassy in Jakarta issued a statement denying accusations that Uighur Muslims were being sent to internment camps.

The statement said that the government had established "professional vocational training institutions" to teach citizens in Xinjiang Chinese, legal knowledge, and vocational skills to lure them away from extremism.




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