Statement – For immediate release
27 April 2023
Contact: World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
0049 (0) 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has released its 2022 annual report on the human rights situation in East Turkistan, highlighting the most important developments of the past year. The report documents the alarming reality that Uyghurs and other Turkic people in the region continue to face, paying particular attention to China’s zero-Covid policy, forced labour, arbitrary detention, and transnational repression.

“2022 has been a remarkable year for the Uyghur people. While we have accomplished very important achievements, the Uyghur genocide still has not been brought to an end,” said WUC President, Dolkun Isa. “Therefore, we need to redouble efforts to make sure the Uyghur genocide stays on the political agenda, and that our key recommendations to both the Chinese government and the international community are followed up.”

Next to the evolving elements of the Uyghur genocide, the report also documents the international community’s increased efforts to address these human rights abuses, and to hold those responsible to account. Some of the most important achievements in 2022 were:

• In December 2021, the independent Uyghur Tribunal published its final judgement, concluding “beyond reasonable doubt” that the Chinese government has committed torture, crimes against humanity and genocide. The impact of this judgement has been profound, leading to various parliamentary resolutions recognizing the Uyghur genocide in 2022;
• In March 2022, the Canadian Parliament unanimously adopted the M-62 Bill. The motion, which is the first of its kind worldwide, calls on the Canadian government to leverage Canada’s Refugee and Humanitarian Resettlement Program to expedite the entry of 10,000 Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in need of protection, starting in 2024.
• In June 2022, the United States started enforcing the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA), after it had been signed into law by President Biden in December 2021. The UFLPA bans the importation of all products from East Turkistan into the U.S., setting an important precedent for others (such as the European Union, which is working on similar legislation) to follow.
• On August 31st, 2022, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) finally published its long-awaited assessment on the human rights situation in East Turkistan. While a subsequent resolution at the Human Rights Council was voted down, the OHCHR report nevertheless has been a landmark development, setting the stage for increased international accountability efforts.

To announce the annual report to the broader public, the WUC held an online launch event on April 25th. Panellists, which included WUC’s Dolkun Isa and Zumretay Arkin, Canadian Member of Parliament Sameer Zuberi, Anti-Slavery International’s Hélène de Rengerve, and International Service for Human Rights’ Raphael Viana David, discussed various events in 2022, and shared their expectations for the coming year.

The WUC sincerely thanks all its supporters worldwide, whose work has contributed greatly to our achievements in 2022. It renews its calls on the governments, multilateral institutions, civil society, as well as the business community to strengthen their efforts to end the Chinese government’s atrocity crimes against the Uyghur people.

Please find the full annual report here.