URAP Statement on World Refugee Day
On this UN-recognized World Refugee Day, URAP honours its commitment to aiding and advocating on behalf of Uyghur and other Turkic-speaking natives of East Turkistan fleeing their homes to escape the wrath of the Chinese Communist Party and its genocidal policies. The CCP have deployed immense pressure and intimidation to return to China, where Uyghurs risk mass arbitrary detention, mass arbitrary separation of children from their parents, forced sterilization, mass surveillance, forced labour and torture. The threat against Uyghur refugees is transnational— other autocratic countries have corroborated in their surveillance, torture and refoulement of Uyghurs.
Following the passage of M-62, URAP is working alongside Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to implement the resettlement of 10,000 Uyghur refugees in grave need of protection. Through the implementation of M-62, Uyghurs facing extensive pressure to return to China will be free from deportation and extradition.
M-62 is emblematic of Canada fulfilling its international obligations, pursuant to its signatory status to the Genocide Convention and the Refugee Convention and respecting the international norm of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P).
URAP urges IRCC and Global Affairs Canada to expedite the implementation of M-62, as the gravity of persecution that Uyghurs face in third-party states looms large. In the spirit of World Refugee Day, we call on the Canadian government to honour its unanimous support of M-62, to ensure that 10,000 Uyghur refugees are successfully resettled in Canada beginning in 2024.
We call on other democracies to follow Canada’s lead; recognizing the gravity of the threat posed by the CPP against Uyghurs and taking substantive action by providing a safe haven for Uyghur refugees to flee autocratic rule and find sanctuary. Fellow democracies must honour their commitment to the protection of human rights and adequately respond in accordance with their international obligations and democratic principles to do their part in combatting an ongoing genocide. The global community must remember its vow of action, “Never Again” to prevent genocide and punish perpetrators. Protecting refugees worldwide is integral to countering impunity for genocide and the callous response toward victims.
On World Refugee Day, we reckon with the human cost of the CCP’s genocide in displacing millions from their homes. URAP stands with the plight of all Uyghur refugees worldwide and will not relent until they are safe from persecution by the CCP.