URAP Announcement of September 26th Uyghur Action Day on Parliament Hill; “Enough is Enough is Enough.”
URAP is holding a Uyghur Action Day on Parliament Hill this Monday, September 26th from 11 am to 4 pm. This event is open to the public and will be attended by activists, community members, MPs, and other parliamentarians.
This day of advocacy is intended to raise public awareness and draw attention and action from the Canadian government on a number of our initiatives, namely, increasing support for parliamentary action on the prohibition of forced labour products in Canada (Bill S-204) and Uyghur refugee resettlement (motion M-62); institutional accountability and divestment from companies and entities tied to the Uyghur genocide; support for Uyghur-Canadians facing transnational repression; and an urgent response to the starvation of Uyghurs in Ghulja. For a full list of our “asks,” please see the event pamphlet linked here.
Despite the conclusions of the recent UN Office of the High Commissioner's Uyghur report on possible crimes against humanity in the Uyghur region and the Canadian parliament’s recognition of the Uyghur genocide in February 2021, the Canadian government has yet to take meaningful action. It is up to the Canadian public to hold our government accountable to their obligations pursuant to the Genocide Convention and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine, of which Canada took a leading role in the establishment.
It has been almost two years since the parliamentary committee SDIR’s first call for action. It has been almost 20 months since parliament’s acknowledgment of the Uyghur genocide. It has been almost 18 months since the parliamentary committee FAAE called for action on the Uyghur genocide and Uyghur forced labour specifically.
Despite this, Canada has yet to prevent even a single shipment of products tainted by Uyghur forced labour from entering Canada while the United States has and continues to prevent thousands. As a result, Canada has become a dumping ground for such products, and many Canadians today use and own a variety of cotton-related products such as T-shirts, pants, underwear, pajamas, socks, jackets, bedding, and other products - electronics, household products, PVC and vinyl products, product, dried fruits – all made with the use of the Uyghur forced labour.
Uyghur Action Day is intended to address Canada’s inaction with respect to Uyghur forced labour and our other campaigns, and say, “Enough is enough is enough.”
For more information on this event, please contact:
Miri Teich
647-982-0903