URAP Bi-weekly Newsletter October 1-14
News:
· Ian Easton’s article in 1945 entitled “What If China Wins?” is an important thought piece aimed at having us confront harsh truths about Xi Jinping’s long term goals of control and dominance of the Western World.
· Charles Burton’s op ed in the Globe and Mail from last month, responding to reports of 3 satellite Chinese police stations in the GTA, remains relevant this week as URAP has initiated talks with Canadian media that hope to expand and continue reporting on this developing story.
Organization activities:
· Meeting with the Minister of Labour on Uyghur Forced Labour (UFL) Legislation
On October 2nd, URAP met virtually with the Minister of Labour on the ban of imports of products made by the use of UFL. URAP stressed that a Canadian Bill of this kind should be compatible with US law, should be a region-wide ban with rebuttable presumption, and should have a corporate accountability component. We discussed the need for amendments to Bill S-204 to fit these requirements.
· URAP x Larochelle Avocats Federal Court Hearing
On October 3rd and 4th, the first hearing took place in Canadian federal court in Montreal for URAP’s case requesting a Declaratory Relief, for court to name the crimes committed against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in East Turkestan a genocide.
· Uyghur Parliamentary Friendship Group (UPFG) meeting on the UN Uyghur Report
On October 4, the UPFG convened its first session since parliament’s resumption to discuss and evaluate the recently published UN Uyghur report and its legal implications globally and within Canada. Alex Neve, former Secretary General of Amnesty International and Mehmet Tohti stressed that the UN report, despite its shortcomings, unequivocally confirmed the intent of destruction by the CCP.
· MP Letter Campaign
This week, we launched our MP letter writing campaign on our website, with an MP finder and pre-filled emails supporting MP Sameer Zuberi’s motion M-62 on Uyghur refugee resettlement and Sen. Leo Housakos’ bill S-204 on banning products made with Uyghur forced labour in Canada, with upcoming amendments.
· Delivering community members’ pleas to Ambassador May
Last week, we held a virtual meeting with Canadian Ambassador Designate to China Jennifer May where URAP, along with other China-related activists and NGOs, had the opportunity to brief her on important human rights concerns ahead of her departure to China. We followed up with her office afterwards to deliver personal pleas from our community members to reunite them with family members and or investigate their family members’ disappearances in China.
· APRRN Membership Application Submission
This week, we formally applied for membership to the Asia Pacific Refugee Relief Network, so we can better coordinate our efforts and share information regarding our refugee campaigns. This organization has been working alongside URAP on the Thailand file, regarding the 52 Uyghur refugees who have been detained in Thai immigration facilities for the last decade. APRRN is guiding our advocacy work on this file within Canada as we circulate our Thailand report among Canadian parliamentarians and experts, completed last month.
· Montreal Holocaust Museum Partnership
This week, we held our second set of meetings with the Montreal Holocaust Museum to discuss a path forward for an official partnership. Their exhibitions team is interested in helping guide our preparations for a travelling Uyghur exhibit that can be displayed in the new wing of their museum in 2025. We have arranged a follow-up meeting next week, and may be signing a formal contract at that time.
· Meeting with Minister of Transportation Omar Alghabra and MP Sameer Zuberi on M-62
URAP participated in a community meeting with Minister Alghabra and MP Zuberi to discuss his motion M-62. URAP also submitted a concept note seeking federal financial aid for vulnerable Uyghur refugees scattered around the globe.
· Clean Universities campaign
After bringing on a data analyst, Eli Offman, to our team, this initiative is moving forward to create an algorithm for matching financial reports to the body of research on companies and entities tied to Uyghur forced labour, surveillance, and other CCP ties. We have held meetings with supply chain experts, and the Athenai Institute in D.C. which focuses on divestment campaigns at American universities, to ensure we are on the right track. We have also partnered with upper year law students who are creating a legal roadmap to use this data to hold the Canadian government accountable for its public institutions’ complicity in the Uyghur genocide. We will be presenting preliminary results for McGill University at their October 18th event, and we are aiming to complete the rest of the data in mid-November.
Upcoming events:
· October 18: URAP and McGill University’s student union are organizing a Uyghur advocacy event on campus from 12-9 at the SSMU Building, featuring a mass email campaign, expert panel discussion with MP Sameer Zuberi, Kyle Matthews from the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, and Dr. Susan Palmer, sociologist and researcher.
· October 26: MP Sameer Zuberi’s tabled motion M-62 will have its first parliamentary debate in the House of Commons. We will be sending invitations shortly to our community members for gallery seats to view this debate and join us for meetings with party leaders and a reception with parliamentarians and our partnered organizations in Ottawa, organized by the Uyghur Parliamentary Friendship Group.