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Weekly Political and Scientific Newspaper - A Eastern Turkistan News Agency Publication |
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7 ) Meeting of Uighur representatives with members of Parliament of European Union |
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| On January 1, 2001, Askarjan, General Secretary of East Turkestan (Uighurstan) National Congress and Umit Agahi, Chairman of Youth Committee of the National Congress, submitted a special report on the situation in East Turkestan to EU Parliament in the capital of Belgium, Brussels. The report was submitted following the request from members of the EU Parliament. The report was presented at a special meeting attended by 43 members of the EU Parliament and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament of Belgium. The meeting was organized by Green Peace and the Belgian branch of Amnesty International. Ms. Dominik Demes, the head of the Belgian Branch of Amnesty International, opened the meeting with the information on violations of human rights in East Turkestan, on the situation in Chinese jails, and on Mrs. Rabiye Kadir, an Uighur woman jailed by the Chinese authorities. General Secretary Askarjan informed the EU Parliament members on the history of the Uighurs, the present economic and social situation in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, and on some serious problems facing the Uighurs in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Mr. Weronik, the head of Belgian Society for Protecting Tibet, spoke about the situation of Uighur refugees from Kazakhstan in Belgium. About 500 Uighurs from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and other Central Asian countries are currently seeking political asylum in Belgium and might face deportation by the Belgian authorities. Last year, the Belgian authorities sent twice their officers to Kazakhstan to study the situation with the Uighurs in Kazakhstan. Mr. Umit Agahi presented a report on the educational system and the student movement in East Turkestan. At the end of the meeting, a member of EU Parliament from Green Peace Party who was previously observing the situation with the Uighurs shared his views on the situation in East Turkestan. The members of EU Parliament received the reports with great interest. After the meeting, the organizers of the event gave a press-conference on the situation of the Uighurs in East Turkestan. The meeting with the EU Parliament members was made possible as a result of a close cooperation between East Turkestan (Uighurstan) National Congress and the Belgian Branch of Amnesty International. Last year these two organizations held a joint meeting and a press-conference in Brussels. Also last year the Belgian Branch of Amnesty International set up two special groups studying the Uighurs and gathering materials on Uighur political prisoners. Back in October of 1999, General Secretary Askarjan presented a similar report to the European Parliament together with representatives of Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and the Chinese democratic movement. This time the meeting with the members of the EU Parliament was devoted solely to human rights violations in East Turkestan. General Secretary Askarjan, the head of the propaganda section of the National Congress Perhat Yurungkash, and the head of the Youth Committee of the National Congress Umit Agahi informed the Belgian Branch of Amnesty International and the the Immigration Department of Belgium on the present situation in East Turkestan and Uighur political prisoners in China. Last July and September, they visited Belgium and met with the representatives of the Belgian Branch of Amnesty International and the Belgian Society of protecting Tibet. General Secretary Askarjan told to our correspondent: "We want to inform the world community and the Belgian public on the situation in East Turkestan and with the Uighurs in Central Asian countries. After its second convention, East Turkestan (Uighurstan) National Congress started to pay a special attention to relations with international human rights organizations and, in particular, with organizations located in Belgium. To this end, I visited Belgium three times within the last year to establish relations with representatives of some Belgian and international human rights organizations. In the result of these contacts, we had this successful meeting with members of EU Parliament, and I believe we will see more positive developments in the future." |
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©1996-2001 ETIC. February 15, 2001 A. Karakash |
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