Interview: ‘There’s a clear intentional destruction of Uyghur culture and identity’

October 10, 2022

RFA: Given China’s power and the world’s silence, what can members of the Uyghur diaspora do to try to stop the atrocities?

Lenberg: This brings up a whole other issue, which is the fear of persecution of people’s relatives who are still in East Turkestan. What I’ve heard widely from Uyghurs of the diaspora is that they recognize that their activism, that their resistance to Chinese state violence, is limited by these fears of reprisals against their relatives, and people have been threatened directly, [so that] they stop their political activism. Uyghurs from the diaspora all over the world and organizations like the World Uyghur Congress, Uyghur Human Rights Project and Campaign for  Uyghurs have been very active in doing what they can by speaking out and organizing protests. We need to really remember that they’re doing it at great risk to themselves and their family members. Diaspora members have been very active in different ways, especially through organizations, to try to raise awareness, to publish reports, to work with the United Nations, and to work with different world governments, such as organizing a Uyghur tribunal. All these things have been happening, [but] still, there’s been very little response on the part of the international community.

Read the full article: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/lina-lenberg-10102022174608.html