China's assimilation campaign faces growing international pushback as World Uyghur Congress calls for action

Munich [Germany]: The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has released its weekly brief, highlighting growing international efforts to challenge China's policies in East Turkistan and continued advocacy for Uyghur rights.

The WUC took part in the 2026 conference on "Reimagining Self-Determination" organised by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO), which also marked its 35th anniversary. UNPO was established in The Hague in 1991, with its founding linked to former WUC President Erkin Alptekin, Tibetan representative Lodi Gyari, Estonian independence advocate Linnart Mall and Michael van Walt van Praag, an international law adviser to the Dalai Lama.

Following the conference, the Uyghur delegation participated in UNPO's General Assembly, where members elected new organisational leadership. WUC Vice President Zumretay Arkin secured a position on UNPO's new Presidency, maintaining Uyghur representation within the organisation.


The WUC also marked the fourth anniversary of a landmark assessment by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The 2022 report, issued under then-High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, documented serious violations against Uyghurs and other Turkic communities and said the abuses "may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity."

The WUC said abuses have continued since the report, pointing to China's recently enacted Ethnic Unity Law as another instrument of assimilation. According to the organisation, the legislation threatens Uyghur cultural, linguistic and religious identity and includes provisions that could facilitate transnational repression of Uyghurs, Tibetans, Mongolians and Chinese dissidents overseas.

The organisation urged governments to employ diplomatic, legal and economic measures against abuses, while calling on businesses to tackle forced labour risks in their supply chains and civil society groups to demand stronger action at the UN Human Rights Council.

Meanwhile, US lawmakers have sought greater enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, asking the Department of Homeland Security for information on efforts to block goods associated with forced labour in China. They specifically raised concerns over cotton reportedly linked to Uyghur forced labour in the production of Labubu dolls.