World Uyghur Congress, 05 February 2021

On February 6th, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) will organize a virtual meeting with its affiliate and partner organizations and Uyghur activists worldwide to exchange views, examine activities over the past years and to discuss common priorities for the upcoming period.

The virtual meeting also serves to build a bridge between the Uyghur communities and the main office of the WUC. The meeting will bring together around 250 people from 20 different countries, as well as the WUC’s board of directors and executive staff. Whereas these issues were originally scheduled to be discussed in person during the 2020 General Assembly, this event had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Since 2016, the situation for Uyghurs in East Turkistan has deteriorated rapidly. Whereas initial information was scarce, in the years that followed, a large amount of evidence has detailed the mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs in an extensive internment camp system, as well as the grave abuses taking place within these facilities. These abuses are accompanied by a pervasive campaign of forced labour and schemes to suppress Uyghur birth rates. 

Due to these rapidly evolving circumstances, the WUC and its affiliate organizations recognize the need to react timely and adopt its strategic priorities to appropriately reflect these developments. Accordingly, informing, and receiving information from, the global Uyghur community is inherent to the WUC’s work.