About the author:

Brandii Styles
A graduate of Centennial College's journalism program, this journalist brings a love for pop culture, the arts and current events to the Newsfix team...

Tags:

Chinese government, protest rally (2), Uyghurs

Related articles:

• Cyclists stage bike-in to remember Tiananmen Square
• Iranian-Canadians protest at Russian Consulate
• Tamils continue protest from behind barricade

Share this article:

Shouts of “Terrorist China, stop killing Uyghurs now,” filled the air on the corner of Spadina Avenue and Bloor Street West.

Approximately 50 Uyghur Canadians waved Canadian flags, East Turkistan flags and homemade banners in reaction to an attack on the ethnic group last week.

On June 29, Chinese media reported a riot in East Turkistan that killed 26 civilians and injured 118. All of those reported harmed were Uyghurs.

Uyghurs are a Turkic, largely Muslim ethnic group living in the northwestern region of China called East Turkistan. According to the Uyghur Canadian Society, the group has been subject to persecution since the Chinese occupied the area in 1949.

Recent events hit close to home for 18-year-old student Gul Iman. Her family escaped East Turkistan when she was 14, due to the ethnic cleansing happening against the Uyghurs. She claims they barely made it out.

“My mom was a journalist back home,” Iman said. “Being in the business of showing people, especially the outside world, what was happening put my family in danger. We had to leave.”

Iman says that although she got out, many are still suffering at the hands of the Chinese.

“The unfair, brutal treatment of the Uyghurs has to stop,” Iman said.

Uyghur Canadian Society president Rukiye Turdush organized the protest. She says the world needs to be aware of the things that are happening to the Uyghurs at the hands of the Chinese government.

“Uyghurs have suffered for years through racial profiling and unjust political practices,“ Turdush said.

Before the protest, the group gathered outside the Chinese consulate on George Street. Turdush says they delivered a list of demands that included stopping ethnic violence between the Han Chinese and the Uyghurs. It also called for a stop to the forcible relocation of Uyghurs to China for cheap and forced labour.

Turdush says she invited the consulate to join them in a show of reconciliation at the protest.

“They didn’t show,” she said.

The Chinese consulate was unavailable for comment.