China rejects U.N. report on Uighur “prison camps”

China, facing global scrutiny over the alleged detention of up to one million Muslim Uighurs in western Xinjiang region, has rejected a U.N. report about such “prison camps,” adding that the accusations are based on “unsubstantiated and irresponsible information.”

On Thursday, the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination released a damning report revealing Chinese repression of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, who are held captive in “re-education camps” in the name of countering terrorism and extremism, reports CNN.

Beijing has blamed the criticism of its policies in turbulent Xinjiang region on anti-China forces, notes The Guardian. A group of lawmakers in the U.S. has called on the Trump administration to impose sanctions on the Chinese officials responsible for the persecution of Uighurs in Xinjiang.