From Massacres to Genocide: London Protest outside Chinese Embassy to Commemorate 33rd Anniversary of The Baren Uprising [East Turkistan under China’s Occupation]

Uyghurs and their supporters are staging yet another protest outside the Chinese Embassy in London to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of The Baren Uprising, which took place in Akto County, Kizilsu Kirghiz Prefecture, near Kashgar in East Turkistan, from 5th to 10th April 1990. 

This commemoration anniversary is organised by the World Uyghur Congress, UK Uyghur Community, Uyghur Solidarity Campaign and Stop Uyghur Genocide and it will be held on 5th April from 4pm to 5pm.

The Baren Uprising saw the loss of up to 3000 lives which subsequently resulted in the deterioration of human rights of the Uyghurs in their own country. 

On 5th April 1990, the first day of the Baren Uprising, local leader Zeydin Yusup led a group of around 200 Uyghur men and marched to the local government office in Akto County, demanding greater representation and speaking out against the significant influx of Chinese migrants into East Turkistan as well as the wider discriminatory policies and religious and cultural restrictions on the Uyghur people. By the end of 6th April, over 18,000 China’s PLA troops had been reportedly dispatched to the region to crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations. The population of Baren at the time was only about 19,000. Four days later, the demonstrations had been brutally dispersed, leading to the deaths of countless Uyghurs. 

Soon after the founding of the People’s Republic of China on 1st October 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its regime annexed and colonised East Turkistan. China refers to the occupied country as Xinjiang (New Territory), which is a highly offensive term to the people of East Turkistan. Throughout its unique history, East Turkistan has maintained a distinctive, sovereign, national and religious identity separate from China.