Thank you Madame Chair, Excellencies, Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great honour and privilege to be among the panelists of Session 1. Persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities are often victims of multiple discrimination. This is specifically alarming, when gross human rights violations are committed by permanent members of the UN Security Council. I am going to speak about discrimination and other abuses the Uyghur and other minorities face in the Uyghur region of China. Employment discrimination The primary driver of Uyghur unemployment is ethnic discrimination. In both public and private companies, Uyghurs face severe competition from Han locals/migrants. In all industries, Han workers receive higher wages. Only 17 percent of Uyghur university graduates secure a full-time job after graduation. Even Uyghurs with perfect Mandarin face severe discrimination in the job market. Many job advertisements discriminate more specifically against Uyghur women. Former detainees of “re-education camps” and former convicts find that they cannot find employment after serving prison sentences. Rural Uyghurs face different kinds of labour violations that prevents them from seeking nonagricultural jobs. Discrimination against Women Uyghur women are subject to a program to “cleanse” them of their “extremist” thoughts through “re-education” and forced labour facilities. China’s ban on Uyghur women wearing religious symbols is a gender-based violation of Uyghur women’s rights. Since 2015, the government of China has been reducing the birthrate of Uyghur women through coercive family planning. There is a state-run campaign of mass female sterilization. The Chinese delegation did not respond to the allegations made by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and simply denied the existence of coercive birth policies without refuting the specific claims based on statistical data. Religious Discrimination and Destruction of cultural heritage