World Uyghur Congress, 9 August 2019

Uyghur Asylum Seeker Safely Accepted to the United States from Qatar

This week, the United States granted entry to a Uyghur man who was stranded at the Doha International Airport after facing threat of return to China. Ablikim Yusup, 53, escaped Pakistan where he was doing business for years, due to information he received about Uyghurs who were deported by the Pakistani government. He took a flight to Bosnia, but was deported from Bosnia to the Qatari capital on the same day.

Ablikim appealed to the world for help after being told he would be forced to return to China and feared he would face persecution and imprisonment. Ablikim’s case attracted widespread attention online after he posted a video on Facebook from Doha airport pleading for help. The World Uyghur Congress issued a press release and contacted the Qatar Foreign Ministry. Human Rights activists from around the world had appealed to the Qatari authorities to grant Yusuf asylum and not send him to China.

With the help of the U.S. government, lawyers and human rights activists, Ablikim Yusuf arrived in the US safely. The international community must take steps to ensure Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims are provided protection. There are many Uyghurs are in the same position as Ablikim and are being deported to China.

Uyghur Congress Delegation Meets Islamic Community in London

From August 2-4, a delegation of Uyghur activists including WUC President Dolkun Isa, Rushan Abbas, Mehmet Tohti, Ablikim Idris, Kerem Hajim and Rahima Mahmut attended Jalsa Salana, the 2019 Convention of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the UK.

The convention brought together Muslims from across the UK for “an international gathering promoting Islam’s message of peace”. It is considered the largest annual gathering of Muslims in the UK, with over 35,000 people attending from 100 different countries

The Uyghur representatives attended the event to engage with Muslim community leaders in the UK and from around the world and to raise awareness of the crimes against humanity being perpetrated against Uyghurs by the Chinese government and the significant religious persecution faced by Uyghur Muslims.

The atrocities in East Turkistan were raised throughout the event, with several Muslim leaders expressing solidarity with the Uyghur people and articulating their concern about the current crisis facing the Uyghur people. It was very encouraging to witness such concern and support from the Muslim community and offers hope to the Uyghur community. We urge the Muslim community around the world to share their concerns with the leaders of their countries and urge them to take action.

Uyghur Congress Representative Meets US Vice President

On August 5th, Uyghur Congress Executive Committee Chairman, Omer Kanat, met with United States Vice President Mike Pence and representatives of the National Security Council inside the vice president’s ceremonial office in the Executive Office Building.

Kanat met with the US representatives along with delegations from the Chinese Christian and Falun Gong communities, who explained the unique forms of repression they face by the Chinese government at the moment.

Kanat spoke specifically with Vice President Pence about the 1-3 million Uyghurs arbitrarily detained in internment camps in East Turkistan as well as the myriad other restrictions on Uyghur religious practice, language, culture, expression and basic movement.

All three groups stressed the importance of the US government enacting Magnitsky sanctions against individual Chinese officials implicated in gross human rights violations.

German MP Barred from Entering China

The World Uyghur Congress urged China to respect the decision of the German Bundestag to send Green Party member Margarete Bause with a Committee delegation to China this month. China indicated this week that the Bundestag’s Digital Agenda Committee as well as the Human Rights Committee, which Ms. Bause is also a member of, would not be allowed access as long as she remains on the delegation list.

The visit of the Human Rights Committee is scheduled to take place in September and includes visits to Beijing, East Turkistan and Tibet. The German Bundestag also called on the Chinese government through their Embassy to accept the composition of the delegations as a “self-determined concern of the Bundestag”.

The Digital Agenda Committee was set to visit China in August to address issues surrounding artificial intelligence and facial recognition technology. Ms. Bause, who has been pressured by China to drop her support for Uyghurs on several occasions, was to take the place of one of her colleagues during this visit.

Ms. Bause has remained a steadfast supporter of the Uyghur community in Germany and frequently speaks on the issue, including during a debate in the Bundestag in November 2018.