Geneva [Switzerland], December 1 : Director of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) Berlin office, Gheyur Qurban, delivered a powerful speech at the 17th Session of the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues, calling attention to the Chinese government's ongoing genocide and systemic oppression of the Uyghur people in East Turkistan.
During his address, Chinese representatives attempted to disrupt the session by falsely accusing the WUC of being a "separatist organization" and demanded that Qurban be silenced. Despite these attempts to intimidate him, Qurban remained steadfast, continuing his speech and highlighting the Chinese government's decades-long policies of forced assimilation, mass detention, and cultural erasure targeting Uyghurs.
https://x.com/UyghurCongress/status/1862096961865732531
The WUC leader outlined the atrocities faced by the Uyghur people, including the arbitrary detention of up to three million individuals in Chinese-run internment camps. These camps, he said, represent the worst forms of oppression since the Second World War. Qurban also condemned China's systematic efforts to replace the Uyghur language with Chinese, erasing Uyghur cultural and historical references, and imposing forced labour on Uyghur people in factories across China.
"China's policies seek to eliminate our identity and autonomy, forcing us into a suffocating existence with no basic freedoms," Qurban stated. "We call on the international community to hold the Chinese government accountable for its crimes against humanity and genocide."
Despite the disruption, Qurban thanked the UN Forum for offering a platform to amplify Uyghur voices. He emphasized the importance of international recognition and accountability for the atrocities committed by China, which have been condemned as genocide and crimes against humanity by multiple countries and human rights organizations.
The WUC remains committed to exposing the scale of human rights violations against the Uyghur people and pushing for global action to stop the ongoing repression in East Turkistan.
China has faced growing international criticism over its human rights record, particularly regarding its policies in regions like Xinjiang (East Turkistan), Tibet, and Hong Kong. In Xinjiang, which is home to the Uyghur population and other Turkic ethnic groups, reports of human rights abuses have intensified in recent years.
The Chinese government is accused of detaining over a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in what it refers to as "vocational training centers," but many experts and human rights organizations characterize these as internment camps designed for forced cultural assimilation. Allegations against the Chinese authorities include forced labour, torture, indoctrination, and the repression of religious practices.
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