The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) delegation successfully conducted an advocacy meetings in Madrid where they raised the issue of Uyghur genocide, forced labour and Chinese transnational repression .
“The WUC delegation successfully completed advocacy meetings in Madrid, raising the #Uyghur issue with Senators and Congressmen/Congresswomen from different political parties. Thank you for your support!” tweeted WUC.
The trip was held from April 17-19 and was led by WUC President Dolkun Isa. It met with different stakeholders, including members of the Senate and Congress to discuss the Uyghur genocide and issues such as Uyghur forced labour and Chinese transnational repression.
The delegation travelled to Barcelona on April 20th, to participate in the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization’s (UNPO) General Assembly. WUC President Dolkun Isa joined a panel on “The Struggle for Self-Determination and Independence around the World: Success, Resilience and Survival”, organised by the Catalan National Assembly. Other participants included UNPO President Edna Adan Ismail, Vice President Rubina Greenwood and Taimoor Aliassi.
WUC presented recommendations for Spain to take a leading role within the European Union and on the United Nations on Uyghur issues. The discussion of a Uyghur friendship group and a resolution on the Uyghur genocide where also proposed, read WUC statement.
On April 18th, a hearing took place in the US Congress on the implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and the impact on global supply chains, organised by the bipartisan and bicameral US Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
During the hearing, members of the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region and other experts called for urgent action to improve the effectiveness of the UFLPA, citing the Entity List and third-country imports.
“There must be no loophole for companies to profit from the forced labour occurring in my homeland. Multinational corporations with ‘direct-to-consumer’ business models should not be permitted to skirt UFLPA compliance,” said Elfidar Iltebir, President of the Uyghur American Association.
“The UFLPA does not shield these individual packages from scrutiny, and enforcement agencies must prioritise targeting shipments from corporations attempting to circumvent the law,” added Iltebir.
Meanwile on April 20, US Representatives and House Indo-Pacific Subcommittee Chairwoman Young Kim and Ranking Member Ami Bera reintroduced the Uyghur Policy Act, with Senator Marco Rubio introducing a companion bill in the Senate.
The bill would create a comprehensive, multilateral strategy to raise international awareness of the persecution of Uyghurs, direct the State Department to effectively respond to human rights challenges in East Turkistan and push back on the Chinese government’s efforts to silence Uyghur voices, read WUC release.
The introduction of the bill was welcomed by Chairman of the WUC’s Executive Committee and Executive Director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project, Omer Kanat: “Rep. Kim’s bill is important because it ensures that the US commitment to fighting the atrocity crimes is not just words — it’s policy. Uyghurs have been waiting for such legislation for a long time”.
Millions of East Turkistanis, including Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and others have been moved to concentration camps and prisons, where they were subjected to forced labour, forced starvation, forced medication, organ harvesting, rape, sterilization, and even execution.