URAP Statement on the Massacre of 44 Uyghurs in Urumchi Fire

November 28, 2022

Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP) strongly condemns the massacre of 44 Uyghurs in their homes that occurred on Thursday night, and stands with protestors across China.

On Thursday, November 24, 44 Uyghurs fell victim to the Chinese Communist Party’s “Zero-COVID Policy” as they died in a residential building fire in Urumchi while locked in their homes from the outside. This tragedy is nothing short of a massacre at the hands of the Chinese government.

With much of the Uyghur region of East Turkestan (Xinjiang) having been locked down for the last three months, it is clear that the Chinese government’s COVID policy is used specially to target and control Uyghurs. This lockdown resulted in separate tragedies within the last few months in Ghulja as Uyghurs locked in their homes starved to death without access to food, medication, and other necessities.

Following the deaths of these 44 Uyghurs on Thursday, Chinese people have taken to the streets to protest the COVID policy and nationwide treatment of Uyghurs. Public anger and questioning of the CCP’s policies have led to a wave of large-scale protests and candlelit vigils that spread to several major cities across China.

In response, the Chinese government continues to lie about their policies and the reality for Uyghurs living under them – lies about the death toll, the classification of lockdown for the neighbourhood in which the fire occurred, and more. As journalists and residents scramble to uncover the truth, the CCP is working overtime to ensure it is buried. Analytics from Twitter showed a significant increase in spam posts from Chinese bots intended to obscure news about demonstrations.

URAP salutes the brave individuals participating in protests and encourages those in China living outside the Uyghur region – to continue to raise their voices for those who cannot protest, Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims, who face grave consequences for displays of unrest and are not awarded the same rights and freedom of speech.

For those of us living outside China in democratic countries, we must seize this opportunity to reach the Chinese people and encourage further questioning and concern over their regime. URAP encourages the Canadian government to act swiftly and make a statement on these recent developments.