Weekly Brief, 25 February 2022

Weekly Brief, 25 February 2022
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WUC Delegation Visits Ireland
From 20-23 February, a WUC delegation was in Dublin, Ireland, to meet with the Irish Foreign Ministry, Irish lawmakers, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, to brief them on the Uyghur genocide and share recommendations for action. WUC sends its gratitude to the Irish Parliamentarians and Senators for addressing the Uyghur genocide and for organizing a briefing inside the parliament and gathering a cross-party group.

Ahead of the WUC’s visit to Ireland, WUC President Dolkun Isa wrote an op-ed in the Irish Times urging the Irish government to stand up for Uyghurs. “The International community is starting to realise the nature of these egregious crimes. But there remains governments who choose to watch those genocide crimes unfold in silence and conveniently prefer trade relationships over the lives of millions of innocent people… For both of my parents it is already too late”.

WUC Calls Attention to Threats against Uyghur Language on International Mother Language Day
On February 21st, which marked International Mother Language Day, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) called attention to the threats that the Uyghur language faces in East Turkistan and abroad, as the Chinese government critically suppresses the teaching of the Uyghur language, including an outright ban of the language as a medium of instruction over the past years. “The Uyghur language has been under threat for many years as China’s assimilatory policies have targeted language as a central element of our identity.”, WUC President Dolkun Isa said. “This has led to a situation where Uyghurs are increasingly out of touch with their mother language, which also endangers the transmission of Uyghur culture more broadly.”

On this occasion, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) organised an online panel discussion with scholars and researchers who were involved in the creation of the Uyghur braille script. The project, which was completed in 2021, marks an important step to ensure the preservation of the Uyghur language but also to make the Uyghur language accessible to all Uyghurs. The panel discussion discussed the process of the creation of the Uyghur braille script, as well as its significance in the context of restrictive linguistic policies by the Chinese authorities as part of the wider human rights atrocities in the Uyghur region.

EU Commission’s Proposal on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence
On February 23rd, the EU Commission presented its long-awaited proposal on EU-wide mandatory corporate due diligence. Moreover, the EC also announced “it is preparing a new legislative instrument to effectively ban products made by forced labour from entering the EU market”. The WUC welcomes the due diligence proposal, though notes that it contains alarming flaws that undermine its potential to effectively prevent and end European corporate complicity in Uyghur forced labour. It calls for more ambitious provision in areas such as company scope, due diligence obligations, and access to remedy for victims and stakeholder consultation.

A Special Discussion At The Conduit to Explore the Work of the Uyghur Tribunal 
On February 23rd, WUC UK Director, Rahima Mahmut, and Program & Advocacy Manager, Zumretay Arkin, participated in special discussion at The Conduit in London, U.K, focusing on the Uyghur Tribunal and the ongoing human rights abuses against the Uyghur people in East Turkistan. The panel further included experts such as the Tribunal’s Vice Chair and advisors, discussing the findings of the Tribunal, discuss the ongoing risks witnesses face from the Chinese Government and providing a forum for exploring how justice can be given to Uyghur communities.