Our Staff

Zumretay Arkin is the Program & Advocacy Manager and Spokesperson at the World Uyghur Congress. She graduated from the University of Laval with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) in 2019 and graduated with a Bachelor in International Relations from the University of Montreal, in 2016. She volunteered for the Canadian Uyghur Association. She primarily focuses on international advocacy at the United Nations. This includes engagement with different UN treaty bodies, special procedures, the office of the High Commissioner, diplomatic missions, and civil society organizations. She is also leading grassroots campaigns, such as the Olympics campaign and the forced labour campaign against brands. She fluently speaks Uyghur, French and English, and offers commentary to international media outlets in these languages, including to Reuters, Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Financial Times, Le Monde, Al Jazeera, and BBC, among others. She has also published op-eds for the Diplomat, Hong Kong Free Press and Medium.

Eva Stocker is the Senior Project Officer at the World Uyghur Congress. Eva speaks German, English and a bit of French. She graduated with a double Master's in Governance and international politics from Aston University and Bamberg University. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in political science from the University of Bamberg. Her studies focused on human rights and minority groups. She primarily focuses on policy research and national advocacy in the German-speaking world, including in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Additionally, she also leads grassroots campaigns in Germany, such as the campaign against Confucius Institute and forced labour campaigns.

Erkin Zunun is the Chief coordinator of the World Uyghur Congress, based in Munich, Germany. He studied International Relations at Ankara University, Turkey. He interned with the East Turkestan Union in Europe and was its general secretary from 2006-2009. He worked also as an assistant for the WUC General Secretary Mr Dolkun Isa from 2007-2009. Erkin Zunun is fluent in Uyghur, English, Turkish, German and Russian.

Gheyyur Qurban is the Director of the WUC Berlin Office. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Financial Management from the Xinjiang University of Finance and Economics in Urumchi, a Bachelor's degree in Business Information Technology from the Munich University of Applied Sciences and a Master's degree in Accounting and Finance from the FOM University of Applied Science. Gheyyur leads WUC's advocacy efforts in German-speaking countries, engaging with the Parliament and its members, governmental bodies as well as civil society actors. He started volunteering for the WUC in late 2007. Gheyyur was elected as the General Secretary of the East Turkestan Union in Europe for two executive terms and later served the WUC as the Assistant to the General Secretary and Director of the Youth Committee. He interned as a research assistant at the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) in 2008. Gheyyur has extensive experience as a finance and accounting professional in various businesses. He also has experience in human rights advocacy and activism, fundraising, open source investigation, intelligence and counterintelligence, as well as cyber security. Gheyyur is fluent in Chinese, English, German, Turkish and a bit of Russian and French. He offers commentary to news outlets in German, Uyghur and English.

Koen Stoop is the World Uyghur Congress’ Policy Coordinator & EU Representative. Based in Brussels, he conducts advocacy vis-a-vis the European Union and the Belgian Government. Before joining the World Uyghur Congress in 2020, Koen interned with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organizations in Brussels, and Human Rights Watch in Amsterdam. He holds an M.A. in International Development with International Conflict and Security from the Brussels School of International Studies, and a B.A. in History from Utrecht University. Koen is fluent in English, and Dutch, and speaks a bit of French, German and Spanish. 

Sheila-Ann Riek is the Parliamentary Coordinator for the World Uyghur Congress. Based in the Brussels office, her primary focus is the establishment of Uyghur Friendship groups in parliaments. She is fluent in English, German and Afrikaans. Having graduated with a Masters in Globalisation and Development Studies from Maastricht University and a Bachelors in Governance and Public Policy from the University of Passau, her personal focus has been on minority and indigenous rights, tied with advocacy on racial equality and intersectional feminism.

Rahima Mahmut is the World Uyghur Congress UK Director. She is an activist, singer and translator and interpreter. Born in Ghulja, East Turkistan in 1970, Rahima fled to the UK in 2000 after witnessing the Chinese Regime’s brutal crackdown during the 1997 Ghulja Massacre. Rahima translated the award-winning prison memoir The Land Drenched in Tears by Soyungul Chanisheff, and she interpreted for the majority of the fact witnesses during the Uyghur Tribunal. Rahima has also collaborated with international news outlets, including the BBC and Al Jazeera, to bring breaking stories relating to the Uyghur genocide. Her work includes producing music for the award-winning Al Jazeera documentary ‘Living in the Unknown,’ working as a consultant and translator for the Bafta-winning ITV documentary ‘Undercover: Inside China’s Digital Gulag,’ and translator for the BBC documentary ‘China: A New World Order.’ As the World Uyghur Congress’ UK Director, Rahima has worked as part of a collation of activists to lobby Parliament during the Genocide Amendment, the Genocide Declaration, and a motion calling for a diplomatic Boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, amongst other campaigns. Since beginning her career as an activist with the World Uyghur Congress in 2019, Rahima has become a prominent voice for Uyghurs in the UK. She is now Executive Director of the UK-based campaign Stop Uyghur Genocide, and Advisor to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC).

Sofiya Issabayeva is the Fundraising and Grants Coordinator at the World Uyghur Congress. She graduated from Swansea University with a Bachelor of Accounting and Finance in 2018 in Swansea, U.K. She had previously worked as an auditor assistant at Baker Tilly Company in 2018 and later worked as an accounting assistant at Turan Skin Ltd in 2019. Sofiya is fluent in Uyghur, English, Russian, Turkish and Kazakh. 

Isabela Rodrigues is a Campaign Assistant in the World Uyghur Congress London Office. She graduated with a Bachelor's in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh in 2020. After graduating, Isabela interned with NGOs and human rights groups and joined the World Uyghur Congress in July 2021. She also works with a UK-based campaign, Stop Uyghur Genocide (SUG).

Iveta Vancáková is the Policy Coordinator for Visegrad Countries (V4) for the World Uyghur Congress, based in Prague. She graduated in Management at the University Banska in Ostrava. She is also the founder and Director of a dancing school in Prague. Since 2021, she has been advocating for Uyghurs. She runs a project called “From Judgment To Action” at Charles University, Faculty of Law with the aim of drafting policy recommendations for governments. Iveta is fluent in Czech, Slovak and English.