Montreal's Uyghur community stages citywide march against China's mistreatment of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims, calling for global attention and urging for stronger Canadian governmental intervention.
In a resolute move to bring international focus to China's mistreatment of Uyghurs and Turkic Muslims, Bakhtiar Semseddin, the founder of Montreal-based International Support for Uyghurs (ISU), led a citywide march on Sunday, as reported by the CBC News. Despite persistent phone harassment and threats against his family in Xinjiang, or as he calls it, "occupied East Turkestan," Semseddin remains undeterred. He insists his fight is not only personal but for all Uyghurs and their basic human rights.
The march, which progressed from Dorchester Square to Place des Arts, marked the 14th commemoration of the tumultuous Ürümqi riots. The upheaval was a focal point in highlighting the precarious position of Uyghurs in China, with around 200 people killed during the unrest. The demonstration underscored the pervasive ethnic strife between Uyghurs, primarily Muslim and Turkic-speaking, and the Mandarin-speaking Han Chinese.
Further exemplifying the personal and wide-reaching impact of China's policies, Kalbinur Semseddin, Bakhtiar's wife, shared her experience of fleeing to Montreal due to mistreatment back in 2001. She has since lost contact with her brothers and their families who stayed in China. Many in attendance at the protest, she said, were enduring a similar situation, highlighting the personal human cost of the larger political issue.
Canada's governmental response to the situation has been scrutinized. The House of Commons, following a 2021 resolution, officially condemned China's treatment of Uyghurs as genocide and recently advocated for Canada to resettle 10,000 displaced Uyghurs and Turkic-origin Muslims. However, Semseddin urges the government to do more by prohibiting products generated through forced Uyghur labor in detention centers.
The path towards change, as per Kyle Matthews of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, necessitates a strategy of persistent exposure of rights abuses and formulation of new policies to effect governmental transformation. Despite the challenges, Semseddin remains committed to his advocacy work, stating, "We would like for our people to have a good life like Canada." The Chinese consulate was contacted for comments but did not provide a response.
