Uyghur activists call for immediate global action against China’s ongoing genocide in East Turkistan

The Uyghur rights leaders called for immediate global action to address the ongoing genocide and crimes done by China against the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic ethnic groups in the East Turkistan region.

This comes after the US State Department released the 2023 Human Rights Report on April 22.

“The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) is urgently calling for immediate and substantial global action to address the genocide and crimes against humanity being perpetrated by China against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic ethnic groups in East Turkistan,” the ETGE said in a statement.

US State Secretary Antony Blinken, as well as a specific section on China in the report, stated that China’s atrocities in East Turkistan (which Beijing calls “Xinjiang”) constitute an ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity.

“These atrocities include mass internment, forced labour, and the forced assimilation of nearly one million Turkic children into Chinese state-run facilities,” the statement added.

In May 2014, the Chinese government launched a “People’s War” on Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan under the guise of combating “extremism, separatism, and terrorism.”

Later, by 2016, “this so-called “People’s War” had escalated into a comprehensive campaign of genocide and crimes against humanity due to a lack of international response and condemnation,” according to the statement.

Notably, the key aspects of China’s campaign of genocide and crimes against humanity include the mass internment of millions of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples in concentration camps, which are increasingly being converted into official prisons; the forced sterilisation of hundreds of thousands of Uyghur and other Turkic women; and the enslavement of millions more through forced labour.

Moreover, other aspects include coerced marriages of Turkic women to Chinese men, widespread destruction of thousands of cultural and religious sites, suppression of religious practices, prohibition of native Turkic languages in education, and forced separation and assimilation of nearly a million Uyghur and other Turkic children in state-run facilities, according to the statement.

Despite acknowledgement and designation of these acts as genocide by the United States and several other national parliaments, including those of the UK, Netherlands, Czech Republic, France, and Belgium, the international community’s response has largely been confined to verbal condemnations without the backing of effective policies or interventions.

ETGE Foreign Minister Salih Hudayar said, “The Chinese government and the CCP are employing genocide and crimes against humanity as tools to sustain their colonial occupation of East Turkistan.”

The ETGE further urged the international community, especially leading democratic nations and international organisations, to advance beyond mere condemnations.

“It advocates for the implementation of sanctions, diplomatic pressures, and other necessary measures to pressure China to end its ongoing genocide in East Turkistan,” the ETGE stated.

ETGE President Mamtimin Ala further expressed disappointment and said, “Despite the detailed documentation of China’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in East Turkistan, the global response remains grossly inadequate. More than token gestures are needed–decisive actions must be taken to enforce treaty obligations to stop and penalise the atrocities committed by China in Occupied East Turkistan.”

Beyond rhetorical commitments, the ETGE called for tangible steps to uphold human rights and end the genocide in East Turkistan.

“Specifically, the ETGE is appealing to the US Senate to pass the Uyghur Policy Act (S.1252) and include the appointment of a Special Coordinator for Uyghur Issues at the US State Department, as the already passed House version (H.R.2766) does,” it stated.

Moreover, the ETGE urged the US and other democratic nations to recognise East Turkistan as an occupied country and support its right to external self-determination, thereby addressing the root cause of China’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity.