In mid-February, the communities of Uyghurs and Hong Kongers living in Ireland wrote an open letter to the Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris highlighting concerns for their safety and drawing urgent attention to the pattern of Chinese state surveillance and harassment of members of their diaspora communities.
The letter was written in advance of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Ireland and requested the Irish Government to adopt a human-rights-based approach in their discussions with Chinese officials, as well as demanding concrete actions with respect to acts of transnational repression, genocide and politically motivated imprisonment perpetrated by the People's Republic of China (PRC).
We spoke to Nuria Zyden, the Director of the Irish Uyghur Cultural Association (Instagram @irishuyghurca) about the Uyghur community in Ireland, the pain and longing of being separated from family and what lies behind her community's concerns for their safety which she outlined in the recent letter to the Irish Government.
Date of Recording: February 24th, 2025.
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| Irish Uyghurs protest during the visit of China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi to Dublin on February 17th, 2025. |
DIVE DEEPER:
Additional information on the topics discussed in this episode:
- Open Letter to the Irish Government on the Occasion of the Chinese Foreign Minister's visit on 17th February, 2025 - link
- The poetry of hope - Colm Keena on the Irish Uyghur Cultural Association - The Irish Times (February 5th, 2024)
- Thailand condemned for 'shameful' mass deportation of Uyghur refugees to China - Tom Levitt, The Guardian (March 3rd, 2025)
- On Thailand's Forced Return of Uyghurs to China - Press Staatement - Marco Rubio, Secretary of State (February 27th, 2025)
- Blinken says genocide in Xinjiang is ongoing in report ahead of China visit - Simon Lewis, Reuters (April 22nd, 2024)
- Two years after Xinjiang findings, UN reports 'limited access to information', 'reprisals' against activists - International Service for Human Rights (August 27th, 2024)
- UN Human Rights Office issues assessment of human rights concerns in Xinjiang, China (August 31st, 2022)
- Who are the Uyghurs and why is China being accused of genocide ? - BBC News (May 24th, 2022)
- The faces of China's detention camps in Xinjiang - Scilla Alecci, ICIJ (May 24th, 2022)
- Thousands of detained Uyghurs pictured in leaked Xinjiang police files - Vincent Ni, The Guardian (May 25th, 2022)
- 'Xinjiang Police Files': Exclusive documents reveal China's machine of repression against the Uyghurs - Nathalie Guibert, Le Monde (May 24th, 2022)
- The Factories in the Camps - Alison Killing, Megha Rajagopalan, BuzzFeed News (December 28th, 2020)
- Satellite Images Show China's Expansion Of Muslim Detention Camps - NPR (August 29th, 2020)
- "Brave" Chinese citizen journalist gets rare video of nearly 20 Xinjiang Uyghur internment camps - Radio Free Asia (November 18th, 2021)
- UN concerned over 're-education' centres in Xinjiang province - Yvonne Murray, RTE News (October 7th, 2020)
- Inside Xinjiang: China cracks down on Uighur population - Yvonne Murray, RTE News (September 30th, 2020)
You might also like:
- Wolf Warrior Visits - Unpacking China's Interest in Ireland (February 24th, 2025)
- China Travel - Red Flags and Exit Bans (February 13th, 2025)
Thumbnail Photo Credit: Irish Uyghur Cultural Association Instagram
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