Uyghur body backs EU sanctions on Chinese officials over rights abuses in Xinjiang

World Uyghur Congress President Dolkun Isa on Thursday lauded European Union's decision to sanction Chinese officials involved in the human rights abuses in the Xinjiang province.

"Deeply pleased and grateful for the EU... to come to the agreement to sanction Chinese officials responsible for the Uyghur Genocide. This... showcases that the international community will hold China accountable," said WUC President Dolkun Isa, as quoted by the World Uyghur Congress Twitter handle.

This comes after European Union members agreed to impose sanctions on four Chinese officials and one entity over Beijing's treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, Radio Free Asia reported.

The penalties were approved at preparatory meetings for next week's Foreign Affairs Council, according to people familiar with the discussions. The penalties will be formally adopted at a meeting of the bloc's top diplomats on Monday, South China Morning Post reported.

These will be the first sanctions against Beijing since an EU arms embargo in 1989 following the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The embargo is still in place. China is the EU's second-largest trading partner.

China has been rebuked globally for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending members of the community to undergo some form of forcible re-education or indoctrination.

Beijing, on the other hand, has vehemently denied that it is engaged in human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang while reports from journalists, NGOs and former detainees have surfaced, highlighting the Chinese Communist Party's brutal crackdown on the ethnic community.

( With inputs from ANI )