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The East Turkistan Government-in-Exile (ETGE) has welcomed new legislation introduced by the US House of Representatives on January 25 to confront China and urged people to boycott watching the Beijing Winter Olympics be held next week.
The legislation, titled America COMPETES Act of 2022, includes several provisions which seek to strengthen the US Government's response to China's ongoing genocide of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples in Occupied East Turkistan. "We hope that this bill will lead to stronger actions by the US to help end China's ongoing campaign of colonization, genocide, and occupation in East Turkistan," said Prime Minister Salih Hudayar of the East Turkistan Government in Exile. Specific provisions on East Turkistan include a provision to designate Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples who have fled or are fleeing China's ongoing genocide in East Turkistan as prioritized refugees of special humanitarian concern. This designation would make them eligible for Priority Two (P-2) processing under the US Government's refugee resettlement system. "We ask the US Government to also expedite the asylum applications of Uyghurs and other East Turkistanis who are already in the US and have been waiting for years, some even over a decade, to obtain work permits and green cards," President Ghulam Yaghma of the East Turkistan Government in Exile said in a statement. Another provision called for the designation of a Special Envoy within the US State Department to coordinate the diplomatic and political response to China's ongoing genocide and "gross violations of universally recognized human rights" in East Turkistan. The bill incorrectly refers to East Turkistan as the "Xinjiang Province," which China officially refers to as the "Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region." The East Turkistan Government in Exile again calls on the US Government and the US Congress to respect the preference of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples by correctly referring to their homeland by its proper name East Turkistan. The bill also contains an amendment to the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116-145), which calls for the imposition of sanctions concerning systematic rape, coercive abortion, forced sterilization, or involuntary contraceptive implantation in East Turkistan. With the Beijing Olympics (Genocide Games) coming up next week, the ETGE is calling on the public to boycott watching the Beijing Olympics to protest China's ongoing genocide of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples. "Many groups including East Turkistanis, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, and even American and European organizations have asked the IOC to cancel the Genocide Games. The IOC said no, so we asked governments to boycott the Olympics fully, and they also said no. These groups have also pleaded with athletes not to go and were ignored. Thus, we beseech the public not to watch the genocide games, and we hope that by doing so they can help make this the least-watched Olympics in history," Dr. Mamtimin Ala, the EU Representative of the East Turkistan Government in Exile said in the statement. On Friday next week, China is to host the Beijing Winter Olympic Games under a cloud of diplomatic boycotts. The East Turkistan Government in Exile again calls on the US Government and othergovernments in the free world to support East Turkistan's case against Chinese officials at the International Criminal Court. The ETGE urges governments to address the root of China's ongoing genocide in East Turkistan by recognizing East Turkistan as an Occupied Country like Tibet. (ANI)
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