The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet is hoping to reach terms of an agreement with China for a visit to the country’s Xinjiang region later this year.
It marks the first time Bachelet has publicly suggested a timeline for the visit, as her office has been negotiating terms since September 2018.
Bachelet is under pressure to secure access to Xinjiang, where activists claim over a million Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims are subjected to forced labour.
Beijing denies the allegations and describes the camps as vocational training facilities to combat religious extremism.