China and its allies called on Tuesday for an investigation into the discovery of the remains of indigenous children in Canada at the site of a former boarding school, prompting an angry response from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
China called for an investigation into indigenous children's remains found at a former boarding school in Canada, sparking anger from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Last month, the remains of over 200 children, some as young as three years old, were found at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia.
Senior Chinese UN official Jiang Duan told the Human Rights Council Tuesday China and its allies were calling for a "thorough and impartial investigation... to bring those responsible to justice, and offer full remedy to victims." "We are deeply concerned about the serious human rights violations against the indigenous people in Canada.
Historically, Canada robbed the indigenous people of their land, killed them and eradicated their culture." Canada, which is currently locked in a trade dispute with Beijing, later delivered a joint statement calling for an investigation into China's alleged mass detention of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.
Beijing denies all allegations of Uyghur abuse, and describes the Xinjiang camps as vocational training facilities to combat religious extremism.
Condemning what he called China's "systemic abuse and human rights violations," Trudeau said a Canadian commission had worked to address its own mistreatment of indigenous peoples.
He further asked quote, "Where is China's truth and reconciliation commission?
...Where is the openness that Canada has always shown and the responsibility that Canada has taken for the terrible mistakes of the past?" Canada's truth and reconciliation commission found in 2015 that its residential school system, which forcibly separated indigenous children from their families, constituted "cultural genocide." Meanwhile, United States Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced Tuesday the U.S. would also begin investigating its own dark history of so-called Indian boarding schools, and work to uncover any children's remains.
The Catholic Church must take responsibility for its role in running many of Canada's residential schools for indigenous children,..
