The United States is "deeply disturbed" by reports of systematic rape and sexual abuse against women in internment camps for ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in China's Xinjiang region and there must be serious consequences for atrocities committed there, the US State Department said on Wednesday.

A BBC report earlier on Wednesday said women in the camps were subject to rape, sexual abuse and torture. The British broadcaster said "several former detainees and a guard have told the BBC they experienced or saw evidence of an organised system of mass rape, sexual abuse and torture."

Asked to comment, a State Department spokesperson said: "We are deeply disturbed by reports, including first-hand testimony, of systematic rape and...