Washington DC: “Confronting Atrocities In China: The Global Response To The Uyghur Crisis” conference had its opening ceremony in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center on 6 June. The event was hosted by the Central Asia Program, The World Uyghur Congress, the Uyghur American Association, and the Uyghur Human Rights Project.
The primary aim of the conference will be to bring together political leaders, international agencies, human rights activists, academic experts, Uyghur leaders and the Uyghur community abroad to provide updates on the responses underway and to collectively develop additional strategies to pressure the Chinese government to close the camps and respect Uyghurs’ and other Turkic Muslims’ fundamental rights.
Mr Ngodup Tsering, the Representative the Office Of Tibet in DC, expressed solidarity with the Uyghur people in East Turkestan. Currently, the Chinese government has been systematically persecuting the Uyghur people for their ethnic and religious identity. Labeled as terrorists, millions of Uyghur people are locked up in concentration camps throughout China. The forms of repression used upon the Uyghur people are almost identical to the forms of repression used upon Tibetan people. As stated by Representative Tsering, “This is a deliberate attempt by the CCP to erase history, ethnic identity, and hope and to create intergenerational anguish”. He also emphasized that, “the struggle needs to be continuous, consistent and non violent”.