This article is part of a two-part interview regarding the situation in East Turkestan, a region in the People’s Republic of China that is home to several minorities, predominantly Uyghurs, who are suffering from severe represessions by the Chinese government. Read the first part of this interview here.
You already started talking about the work you do specifically. So to get a general overview, what is the World Uyghur Congress, and what activities do you do?
The World Uyghur Congress is an international umbrella organization, meaning that we have organizations in over 40 countries worldwide. These organizations are then connected to the local communities there. The World Uyghur Congress aims to represent the collective interest of Uyghurs, both in China but, being connected to the diaspora, also abroad. Our headquarters are in Munich, in Germany, but we have offices in other places as well. For instance, I am based in Brussels, and we also have offices in London or in the United States.
The ways in which we try to represent the interest of the Uyghur people is by raising awareness among the general public of what is happening to Uyghur people. We do this through our social media channels, through our campaigns and protests. Secondly, and most importantly, is that we are engaging with a variety of international governments and international institutions. We are active in the United Nations and we are active at the European Union level to urge countries to take action. As a democratically elected organization – our leadership is democratically elected by the Uyghur diaspora – I think first and foremost our responsibility is for the Uyghurs in the diaspora and through them also those in East Turkestan.
Can you talk about your work on EU policy specifically? What institutions or individuals do you work with there? What is their response to your work?
What we are trying to do is not focused on one specific institution in the European Union, as they are all interconnected. What I am trying to do is to take a holistic approach, trying to ensure that the European Union takes action that goes beyond condemning what is happening. One of our main activities over the past year has been to regularly engage with the European Parliament. For instance, we have regular meetings with members of the European Parliament to keep them updated on the issues, to try to find support from them to call on the other European institutions to take action. Over the past four years, we had four resolutions by the European Parliament focusing specifically on the Uyghurs.
However, these statements, although they are always good to have, need to now be accompanied by appropriate action, given the urgency of the situation. In that sense, I am also engaging with the External Action Services, which determines the foreign policy of the EU and the European Commission, which is more on the legislative side of things. If we are talking about sanctions or if we are talking about trade, then, these are all things that the External Action Service of the Commission have to do more about. If the focus is more on raising awareness, we can engage a bit more with the European Parliament. So our approach really depends on the type of action or the initiative that we are trying to advocate for.
As I mentioned, we are a global federation of youth organizations, many of those that are in Europe are youth wings of liberal political parties. What can these organizations do to help? What can their individual members do?
I think there is a lot that can be done. The first thing really is raising awareness, this can even be within your own family. But I think that organizations, or youth parties, are really valuable for us in terms of youth speaking out and standing up. Some of our greatest campaigns and our greatest successes have been reached through the engagement with youth and I think their presence especially on social media is really important to raise awareness of the Uyghur issue. Secondly, I think especially the younger generation that we have now is more politically active than maybe older generations. We find it incredibly helpful and it sends a really strong message if the younger generations also attend protests in various countries in the EU, but also abroad. The Uyghur community holds regular protests in front of the Chinese embassies or in front of the national governments. If the youth also attend these protests and also speak out, that is also something that really helps. Thirdly, it is very helpful to support these local Uyghur organizations, if not financially then by sharing their activities on your social media or, as I said, by attending protests or collaborating with them in your parties.
As an individual, there are a lot of things that you can do. It starts with speaking out, but it is also a big step to inform yourself. For instance, on the issue of forced labor, one of the main reports that came out last year indicated that over 80 global brands are linked to Uyghur forced labor. These include brands like Zara, Hugo Boss and various other brands, brands that we use in our everyday lives. By informing yourself about what brands are responsible and what brands aren’t, I think individual consumers can make the decision to not be complicit in Uyghur forced labor. Finally, what is always helpful as an individual, but also as an organization that is connected to a political party, is to write letters to your MPs or to your political parties asking them to do something and to raise their voice in national governments. There are many ways in which you can help, but I would say these are a few of the most important ones.
Are you hopeful that change can be brought about?
Absolutely. I think your work should not be dependent on this hope, though. If we listen to Uyghurs themselves – something to keep in mind is that as of now, most Uyghur organizations and activities that are done to raise awareness are done by Uyghurs themselves – almost every one of them has personal stories that are connected to these human rights violations. Almost every Uyghur that I have spoken to has family members or friends that have disappeared inside of these camps. And each one of them has not been in contact with their families for over three years now, so I think trying to change China from within should not only be based on the hope that it is going to happen soon. I think it can, through sustained efforts, but I think it’s mostly a moral responsibility of everybody who thinks they are a global citizen.
These human rights violations do not only effect the Uyghurs inside China or outside; I think it affects us all because China is exporting its oppressive regime abroad. It’s trying to undermine human rights in the United Nations, so this is a threat for human rights everywhere. I think it’s not only a matter of trying to save the Uyghurs but it’s a matter of taking your moral responsibility and acting accordingly. And I do think that the more people and governments and countries speak out, this will have an effect on how China behaves, because China does care about its reputation. If governments speak out, China will have to think about that if it wants to save its reputation, it should stop these human rights violations and close the camps. On that, I should also highlight that it’s very important that not only Western governments speak out, because that’s what we’ve seen so far. It’s mainly European countries and the US and Canada and like-minded countries that have spoken out and have been brave enough to take action. But there is a shameful silence from Muslim-majority countries, which is really something that must change if China were to change its approach. Muslim-majority countries, African countries, and also other countries in Asia; it’s imperative that they also speak out. Only through a global coalition of a variety of countries with a variety of backgrounds can we make China change its behavior.
1 comment