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Uyghur News Recap: September 16-23, 2022


FILE - An ethnic Uyghur girl holds an East Turkestan flag during a protest against China, in Istanbul, Turkey Aug. 31, 2022.
FILE - An ethnic Uyghur girl holds an East Turkestan flag during a protest against China, in Istanbul, Turkey Aug. 31, 2022.

Here's a summary of Uyghur-related news from around the world this week.

Malware campaign targeted Uyghurs for 7 years, report finds

A new report found that variants of Android malware disguised as a book, pictures and an audio version of the Quran have been targeting Uyghurs since as early as 2015.

China 'ready for the fight' if Uyghur resolution brought to UN

Xinjiang government spokesperson Xu Guixiang told journalists in Geneva on Thursday that China is "not afraid of" countries at the U.N. taking action against its human rights records in the autonomous region. "We are going to take countermeasures. We are ready for the fight, actually, so that the light of justice can shine in the world," Xu said.

Report: In Xinjiang city, at least 20 die in 1 day during COVID lockdown

Radio Free Asia reported Wednesday that at least 20 people died on September 15 in Ghulja city in northern Xinjiang because of lack of food or medical care while living under a COVID-19 lockdown that began in early August.

NPR series tells story of Uyghur father's journey to reunite with family

In a two-part series, NPR shares the story of a Uyghur father, a Turkish citizen, who, after many months of lobbying Turkish officials and Chinese diplomats, went back to China to rescue his wife, who was detained in an internment camp, and his two children, who were taken to a Chinese boarding school in Xinjiang.

TikTok deletes account for posting Uyghur genocide video

TikTok banned the account of OnePath Network, a content creation channel focused on Muslim affairs, after it uploaded a video about the human rights situation of Uyghurs in China.

News in brief

The European Commission released a new proposal on forced labor on September 14, prompting some rights groups to question its strength to tackle Uyghur forced labor in China. "The draft text raises concern about whether the proposal is meaningfully drafted to address state-imposed forced labor [such as Uyghur forced labor]," Koen Stoop, EU representative of the World Uyghur Congress, told VOA in an email. "We hope amendments will be made to strengthen the regulation."

Quote of note

"Our aim is to eliminate all products made with forced labor from the EU market, irrespective of where they have been made. Our ban will apply to domestic products, exports and imports alike."

— Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission executive vice president and commissioner for trade

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