Delegation with Saudi, Syria, UAE scholars visits Uyghur province, praises China

Muslim scholars from Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates were part of a delegation hosted this week in Xinjiang province, where Beijing stands accused of committing genocide against the Uyghurs.

The scholars were part of a delegation from The World Muslim Communities Council (TWMCC), a UAE-backed organisation.

While in Xinjiang, the delegation visited the so-called ‘Museum of Combatting Terrorism and Extremism’, the TWMCC said on Tuesday.

Organisation chairman Ali Rashid al-Nuaimi, an Emirati, "hailed the efforts of the Chinese authorities in combating terrorism in Xinjiang," according to a statement on the visit from TWMCC released Monday.

Beijing has been accused of detaining over a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in camps, as part of a crackdown in Xinjiang that it launched in 2017.

Rights campaigners accuse China of abuses including mass incarceration, forced labour, compulsory sterilisation, and the destruction of Uyghur cultural and religious sites.

The United States and some other countries have labelled China's actions in Xinjiang a "genocide", imposing sanctions over the alleged human rights abuses.

Beijing has denied the allegations, claiming its policies have helped combat the threat of Islamic extremism.

TWMCC chairman al-Nuaimi is also a member of the UAE's Federal National Council, an almost parliamentary body.

The UAE has been accused of aiding China to persecute Uyghurs in the country, by allowing Beijing to use "black sites" to lure and detain them.

Saudi Arabia, Syria and the UAE are among several Arab countries that have been accused of forcibly returning Uyghurs to China.