Here's a summary of Uyghur-related news around the world:
Basketball player urges Canada to take ‘real action’ on human rights in China
Former NBA player and human rights activist Enes Kanter Freedom is not satisfied with Ottawa’s response to a letter he wrote to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, urging him to take “real action on China” and saying “simply condemning” China’s treatment of Uyghurs is “not enough.” CBC reported Canadian officials said they have already sanctioned Chinese officials and met with Freedom last month prior to his letter.
UK lawmakers seek ban on Chinese surveillance camera companies
Sixty-seven U.K. MPs asked the government to ban usage or sale of CCTV cameras from Chinese tech companies such as Hikvision and Dahua, the BBC reported. These Chinese companies were accused of being connected to human rights abuses in China.
24 relatives of Uyghur American rights activist missing in China
Rushan Abbas, a Uyghur American activist, told NewsMax TV that 24 of her relatives, including her sister, were arrested by Chinese authorities. China accused Abbas’ sister of being a “criminal” and sentenced her to 20 years in prison. Abbas said her advocacy work in the U.S. is causing her sister to serve “as a hostage.”
Taiwan activists urge government to ban products from Xinjiang
The Taiwan East Turkestan Association asked Taiwan’s government to ban products allegedly made by Uyghur forced labor in Xinjiang, according to the Taipei Times.
China uses groups in West to spread Beijing’s narrative on Uyghurs
Community groups cultivated by the Chinese government in some Western countries have promoted China’s talking points on Uyghurs and their human rights situation, according to research published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Beijing denies any human rights abuses in Xinjiang, while Uyghurs outside China and rights groups accuse China of crimes against humanity. The report also found Beijing has been collecting data on overseas Uyghurs and tracking them.
Overseas Uyghurs stunned to find relatives in leaked Xinjiang Police Files
Growing number of Uyghurs living abroad are finding their loved ones in the Xinjiang Police Files, leaked government documents on China’s arbitrary detention of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, RFA reported.
News in brief
— Nury Turkel, chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, has told the BBC that China’s treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang amounts to genocide. “In order for genocide to be committed, mass death, casualties are not required ... ,” Turkel said. “The intent, the acts, of the Chinese government clearly point in the direction that this is a genocide.”
Quote of note
“I searched the images in the files for people I know or any relative who might be among the images, and after looking at more than 1,000 images, I found Mehmutjan Nasir, who was my cellmate in Hotan from late 2010 to early 2011. I was very saddened to find him on the detained Uyghurs list.”
— Abdurrahman Qasim, a Uyghur based in Turkey, told RFA after looking through the Xinjiang Police Files.
