brent: tonight, a wave of new sanctions from china, europe, north america. will this change treatment of the country's uighur minority? sanctions on chinese officials, the first major response to offenses committed against uyghur muslims. china hits back with sanctions.

a fire at a refugee camp in bangladesh. several have died. a groups say immediate help is needed. a country is struggling under coronavirus infections. chancellor angela merkel wants to roll back restrictions and keep them in place for another month. a debate in france about freedom of speech and cancel culture. two professors in the line of fire after questioning use of the term islamophobia. their students say the academics are fascists. the professors said they are misunderstood. i am brent goff. to our viewers watching us in the united states and to all of you around the world, welcome. we begin tonight with a new standoff between western countries and china.

the u.s., canada, dk, and the european union today also let sanctions on -- today all slap sanctions on beijing. years of reports about the systematic persecution of the uyghur minority. china has hit back with sanctions of its own. reporter: eu foreign ministers meeting in brussels. usually, they are oh-fers to cover tatian's with -- they are evers to confrontations with china but not this time. >> four individuals and one entity from china who have had an active role in the design and implementation of the chinese policies in xinjiang. we are made aware during the meeting that china has retaliated to those sanctions. and rather than change its policies and address our legitite concerns, china has

again turned a blind eye and these measures are regrettable and unacceptable. reporter: blacklisting 10 entities. saying that in breaches international law and basic norms, and severely undermines china-eu relations. the european union was not alone. the u.k., the u.s., and canada also approved penalties. at least one million uyghur muslims are detained in camps with reports of torture and forced sterilization. china claims the camps provide vocational training and help combating extremism. as parents -- experts are questioning whether this coordinated campaign goes far

enough to cause real impact on china. anchor: i am joined by one of the people targeted by china's targeted sanctions. he is and how did you learn that you are one of those being targeted by sanctions? >> i learned this in the morning when friends called me and said there was an article in the ultranationalist chinese paper global times that named me as a probable target. what are you --brent: what are you accused of? >> i don't really know what i am accused of. i guess i am accused of usi my

right to free speech. i have of cour been critical of china's atrocities in xinjiang. i have been critical of china's open russian of the people of hong kong, just the reason, so-called electoral reform has been drafted to make sure that elections will never play a role again in hong kong. i have also been critical of china's aggressive policies in its neighborhood of course. i guess that is what they don't like. they are not any more satisfied with just oprah resting free speech in their own country. they now want to externalize that. i think they are underestimating the resilience of democracies. brent: now that your name is on this list, is it going to impact or effect the work that you do

every day? >> no, i don't think. i n't have 2, 3, four apartments in beijing that they could take from me. there are no assets that they might grab. they are telling me that i am not allowed to travel to the mainland and to hong kong and macau. they did not mention taiwan. i am grateful for that. i think i will just continue. i don't take that personally. five colleagues from the european parliament have been targeted individually. the whole human rights subcommittee of the european parliament has been targeted by sanctions. this is, on one hand,

aggressive, extremely aggressive. on the other hand, it is ridiculous. china cannot believe this is the way that they can deal with us. if they want to shoot themselves in the foot, that is what they are doing. brent: what about the european union shooting itself in the foot? do you believe that sanctions on four chinese officials will have any sway over beijing or change the behavior of china when it comes to the uyghur? >> i really believe that china would not have responded with that mh anger if they would not feel that our sanctions are playing a role. they are not playing a role in the way in which you seem to be assuming they should. i am not accepting -- not expecting xi jinping to tell his underlings that they should stop with mass incarceration and

forced labor and forced abortions and all of that. but i think china feels the force of the sanctions because china does care about its international image. china has hoped, obviously, when they concluded the company it's of agreement on investment -- concluded the comprehensive agreement on investment, that the eupean union could be taken for granted if only they made a few minor economic concessions, they could have us in the poct politically. now they learned that the european union is not just a mercantilist power. it stands up for its values. that is a major failure for xi jinping. that is why they are angry. i think the reaction itself helpundermining china's

international image. this is a real political battle. brent: mr. reinhard butikofer, we appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories began lines around the world. canada is accusing beijing of hostage diplomacy over its treatment of a canadian citizen accused of spying. michael kovrig is facing a trial. canada maintains that his trial is in retaliation for canada resting atop huawei executive. people have been detained on their return home. they were arrested at sea last year on charges of illegal border crossing. it is believed they were trying

to flee to taiwan to escape prosecution for their involvement in antigovernment protests in hong kong. there been violent clashes in the british city of bristol at a rally against a proposed policing bill. the bill would give police sweeping new powers to clamp down on public protests. a massive fire has swept through a rohingya refugee camp in bangladesh. people live in camps in the area after fleeing from nearly -- fleeing from nearby myanmar. aid groups say that immediate international help is needed. >> thick smoke billows over this camp in southern bangladesh. thousands of rohingya refugees watch as their homes are described. the place at the camp started on monday. they quickly swept through the area.

it is unclear what caused it. >> this fire has affected multiple sub-camps and directly affected nearly 10,000 households who will have lost their shelter and basically the roof over their heads. reporter: some attempted to douse the fire with the little tools they could find. others tried to save their belongings. many here now have nowhere else to go. casualty numbers are rising with dozens feared dead or missing. around a million rohingya have languished in these camps for over three years. they fled arming attacks that burned down their homes in mymar in 2017. now with the camps overflowing, aid groups are searching for

additional shelters. for the refugees here, it is yet another setback. their future, now even more uncertain. brent: back in europe, you could call it germany's never ending lockdown. german leaders are wrestling with how to deal with rising coronavirus infections. rules surround and travel as well as restrictions on family gatherings over the easter vacation have been among the points of agreement. angela merkel has been calling for tougher restrictions like a nighttime curfew. i have joined by the spokesperson for the german parliament health committee. he also has a background in infectious diseases. he is a member of the free democratic party. german leaders, it looks like, are expected to agree to yet another month of lockdowns.

this could even be the severest we have seen. what do you think about this? >> what i am concerned about is that we are running from one lockdown to the next with no perspective for our pulation. we have to appreciate that most infections are caused in private settings and not in a store or anywhere outside. i think this has to be clearly addressed in the measures that have to be taken is to make sure that the contacts are lowered. the pandemic is something that is very severe. we cannot only go into lockdown because the fatigue and the population is obvious because there is no perspective anymore. we have to be more intelligent, more innovative with how to temper down this infection. brent: there are some public health experts saying that germany needs three weeks of a

complete shutdown to get this pandemic under control. do you agree? >> at least in theory, that could work. bu then it will start over again and possibly, all in lockdown, what does it really mean? is everybody going to stay-at-home? how will the infections spread in the home? are we not allowed to visit our loved ones anymore? it sounds very easy but i think practically it won't work. brent: what about the vaccination rollout here in germany. i had of schedule with vaccinations, we could possibly be looking lower levels of infections, right? >>bsolutely. we do see lower numrs of infections in the elderly population. the age group above 80 it's a lot lower. they have an incidence rate

around 50. what we have here is a management disaster regarding the vaccination program. also a communication disaster. we do not have the same amount of vaccines available as an other countries around the world. europe is far behind in their vaccination progress. we can only beat this pandemic if we all get vaccinated, or many people get vaccinated. not just europe but globally. when i also think, which is somewhat concerning to me, the inrmation camp, or the missing information campaign by the rman government, to ensure that the vaccination rate will be high in the future as well.

if we are going to reach the 60% or 70% mark, it is unclear. brent: many people say they will be vaccinated but they do not want to get a shot from astrazeneca, for example. people who do not trust that vaccine. that is a huge problem for germany because it was supposed to be the workhorse vaccine in this rollout. >> absolutely. this was a major mistake in the communication program of our government. the astrazeneca is very efficacious, very safe. very rare disease of the brain, which has to be placed on a warning label as well. i would get vaccinated with astrazeneca if it was my turn to get vaccinated.

more than 200 parliamentarians in the gern parliament are willing to take that vaccine as well. many people would like to get that vaccine as well. there are many people are insecure, do not really know how to te these side effects that are noted as a correlation. i think that munication is still missing. brent: the hesitancy is still there. that is for sure. we appreciate your time and your insights tonight. thank you. it has been five years since islamist bombers killed 32 people and injured hundreds in the belgian capital, brussels. the attack turned the spotlight on the city's sizable muslim community. dw's teri schultz has more. >> mullen back -- mollenbec

k.five years ago come after terrorist attack's, the whole world knew that word, and this place. the rest of mollenbeck's almost 100,000 residents felt unfairly stigmatized. >> i was frustrated and sad. i would not really expect -- mollenbeck is a nice area with people with quality. >> abraham -- ibrahim also felt lost growing up like those men who became bombers. he dropped out of school at 13. but when they turned to crime, he turned -- he learned to code, becoming an entrepreneur. >> i have nothing, really

nothing. >> he did have something. the desire to help others succeed. in 2015, while nearby the terrorist cell was planning as attacks, he created a nonprofit tech incubator so mollenbeck could have a place to go and dream big. mollengeek provides training for free. the rest is up for them. >> this place is not to give opportunity. it is for people to come and take your opportunity. if they have no money, it is free. if they have no computer, we can lend a computer. if they have no time, we are almost open 20 hours per 24 every day. reporter: from the single room where he started, his ecosystem now takes up the whole building and had a turnover -- last year.

the world is changing, he says. the big companies recruiting his students are less focused on traditional degrees. 93% of molengeek graduates have tech jobs or have founded their own companies. there were spinoffs in the netherlands and italy. >> we have different molen geeks in europe and we are proud of this. >> a digital marketing student travels an hour each way to be part of the community. >> i think it is the best training center in brussels. it is recognized from big companies. >> when you walk out, you will not be ashamed at all to say where you graduated? >> not at all. >> what outsiders used to deride as a no go zone is now the place to be. brent: now to france where a

college lecturer has been printed a fascist after he branded usage of the term islamophobia. >> the grenoble institute of political studies is where the conflict erupted over a plant conference entitled anti-semitism, racism, and islamophobia. a professor of german said that the term islamhobia should not be used on par with the other terms. if you make statements tt are anti-semitic or racist, you can be prosecuted. but the term islamophobia does not occur in criminal law. he made further arguments against the term and t word was removed from the event title.

students did not just question kinzler's arguments. they called him a right wing extremist. after another professor defended kinzler, students posted messages on campus: the both fascist. -- on campus, calling them both fascist. "we expect an apology at the least for what these professors have done. but for now, we are far from getting an apology." french security forces competitor -- consider the protests dangerous after last october your wind -- last october when a student murdered french schoolteacher samuel aty. he said that freedom of expression include the freom to mock religion, including

cline -- including islam. now, professor kinzler is receiving specl police protection. this hatred, and it is a form of hatred, will not go away so soon. i will be teaching again come online at first and hopefly in person srting in septembe t i think will be persona norata for theext four years until i retire at some point. protesters have put professor kinzler under enormous pressure because he questions the term islamophobia. a political scientist sees it as an attack on free speech and tolerance, what many cancel cuure. >> [speaking german] reporter: cancel culture is when you exclude a person whose opinion you don't want to hear.

at podm me in an artic, aweet, atever. yo cance tir aearances because you think you are protecting others who could be offended by their opinion. critics of cancel culture compare it to authoritarian regimes in which certain groups decide what other people can say anthink. thought crimes, described by the author george orwell in the dystopian novel "1984" about a world where freehought i banned. it is a phenomenon typical tgh cults tt is now encrohing on society as a whole. it wor especially welln social networks, or anticial neorks, as i call them.

for now, the grenoble institute of political studies is still the home of polemics and protests. the discourse is still far from calm. brent: preparations are underway for the men's football world cup in qatar in 2022. but the host country has come under heavy criticism for how it is treating migrant workers. amnesty international has called on fifa to pressure qatar to improve the situation for workers. >> these are some of the new stadiums that qatar is to showcase to an international audience when it hosts the world cup in 2022. inside, they are the last word in luxury as the fifa president found out on a tour last october. but for many of the migrant

workers drafted in to build them , conditions have been less than comfortable. amnesty international has written to fifa to urgent to pressurize qar to do more for those workers rights. >> are they prepared to speak out toake sure that qatar delivers on these refms? will they speak out if qatar tries to reverse these reforms? and will they make sure that future tournaments are better organized and the bidding process embeds human rights. reporter: qatar has made reforms in recent years. it became the first gulf country to introduce a minimum wage that does not discriminate against migrant workers. >> we need to look a little bit also at the history, that where people, countries, regions are coming from. in europe, how many decades, probably centuries to arrive

where we are today. other countries are doing the same process in a few years. we need to recognize that. we need to recognize as well that we found -- that without the spotlight of the world cup, no progress would happ. reporter several clubs called on their countries to boycott the world cup over concerns about migrant treatment. but some say the boycott would only worsen the situation. brent: i will be back to take you through "the day." the astrazeneca vaccine, europe's vaccine non-grotto. -- vaccine non grate. we will be right back.

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and france 24.com.france 24 >> it is not :00 p.-- 9 p.m. tom: the eu imposes sanctions on chinese officials. 10 people stand trial in paris for their bows in the 2018 yellow vests -- roles in the yellow vest antigovernment protests. at least 14 people are killed in a seriesf attacks in western asia -- western niger.