Press Release – For Immediate Release
21 March 2022
Contact: World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
0049 (0) 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

The WUC expresses its deep concern over the supposed attendance of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the upcoming Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), on 22-23 March 2022 in Islamabad, Pakistan. In the face of the genocide being carried out against the Uyghur people by the Chinese government, the presence of Wang Yi at the OIC Council undermines the credibility and international standing of the OIC.

“The presence of a Chinese government representative at the upcoming OIC Council of Foreign Ministers reflects China’s coercive influence amongst Muslim-majority governments”, WUC President, Dolkun Isa, said. “If the OIC strives to be a trustworthy voice of the Muslim world, it cannot continue to close its eyes to the suffering of millions of Uyghur and other Turkic muslims in East Turkistan”. 

One of the key agenda items of the upcoming Council is the submittal of the OIC’s Islamophobia Observatory periodic report for 2021, in which it monitors anti-muslim discourses, policies, and incidents across the world. Disturbingly, in its announcement of the periodic report on its website, the OIC makes no mention of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) atrocity crimes that target Uyghurs and other Turkic muslims in East Turkistan.

The OIC has consistently failed to recognize these atrocity crimes, which have seen the arbitrary detainment of millions of Uyghurs in concentration camps, where they are forced to renounce their religious beliefs and practices. Furthermore, thousands of mosques, shrines, graveyards and other sites of religious significance in East Turkistan have been destroyed or damaged.

The WUC calls upon the OIC to reject the coercive influence of the Chinese government and break its silence on the Uyghur genocide, rather than tacitly supporting these atrocities by allowing the presence of Wang Yi at the upcoming Council of Foreign Ministers. Once again, Muslim-majority governments are urged to take a firm stand against the PRC’s human rights abuses and to support efforts by Uyghur and international organizations and governments worldwide to bring these to an end.