Remembering the holocausts of the past is a mere exercise of rhetoric if present-day genocides are not denounced.

by Rahima Mahmut

Bitter Winter, 02/07/2025

Last week, I attended in London the 80th anniversary of Holocaust Memorial Day, a solemn ceremony dedicated to honouring the memory of millions of innocent lives lost during the Holocaust and recommitting ourselves to the promise of “Never Again.” I felt the deep pain and loss of those who suffered under the Nazi regime, and was moved by the testimonies of survivors whose courage and resilience have inspired generations. As I listened to the speeches, including that of the Prime Minister Keir Starmer, I was struck by a glaring omission: not a single mention of the ongoing atrocities committed against my people, the Uyghurs.

The theme of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day was “For a Better Future,” but how can we promise a better future when we turn a blind eye to one of the most egregious crimes against humanity of the 21st century? For over eight years, the Chinese government has subjected the Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims to a systematic campaign of genocide. Mass internment, forced labour, cultural erasure, forced sterilization, child separation, and unspeakable acts of torture and sexual violence have become the daily reality for millions of my people. Yet the world—and the UK in particular—chooses silence.

The evidence of these crimes is overwhelming. Classified Chinese government documents, known as the Xinjiang Papers, confirm the intentional nature of the atrocities. These documents reveal policies of mass surveillance, forced assimilation, and “re-education” aimed at erasing Uyghur identity. The leaked documents include chilling orders: “Absolutely No Mercy.” “Break their lineage, break their roots, break their connections, and break their origins,” “Shoot-to-kill for escape attempts.” These directives expose the horrifying intent behind the Chinese government’s policies.

Drone footage showing blindfolded, shackled men being loaded onto trains resembles chilling images from the darkest chapters of human history. Leaked videos reveal children screaming in crowded orphanages, separated from their parents who are either detained or disappeared. Survivor testimonies recount harrowing experiences of rape, torture, and forced sterilization in the internment camps. The faces of innocent Uyghurs, their mugshots leaked in the Xinjiang Police Files, show terror and despair—faces that should haunt the conscience of the world.

One such survivor is Tursunay Ziyawudun, a brave Uyghur woman who endured unimaginable horrors. She was repeatedly raped, tortured, and subjected to brutal treatment inside the camps. I translated her testimony, and I remember every harrowing detail. The pain and suffering she described—her own and that of the other women imprisoned alongside her—kept me awake for many nights. When she courageously shared her story, she did so with the hope that it would move politicians to act, to save those still trapped in China’s vast network of concentration camps and prisons. But we have let survivors like Tursunay down. Their bravery, their trauma, their desperate pleas for justice have been met with deafening silence from those in power.

And yet, business continues as usual. Countries like the UK, which pride themselves on human rights, maintain economic relationships. From trade to academia, there is widespread complicity.

Take the 16 UK universities linked with Chinese gene giant BGI Group. The company’s subsidiaries have been sanctioned by the US government for their role in China’s abusive DNA collection schemes to repress ethnic groups. When challenged on this, Edinburgh University claimed it was not aware of the issues. Exeter University said that “no specific claims on data privacy have been raised with the university.”

Think that through; leading researchers have a record of working with a company complicit with genocide and their excuse is: “we didn’t know.” But who can blame them – when the previous Conservative government gave the DNA giant multimillion-pound Covid contracts?

Furthermore, “Hikvision” cameras are prevalent across the UK, a company used in China to design, implement and directly operate surveillance across the camps where Uyghurs are detained. Only a limited removal of Hikvision cameras from sensitive government sites is underway, with no plan to stop public and private bodies funnelling money to a company complicit in genocide.

The UK continues to import goods linked to Uyghur forced labour, such as cotton, food products, and solar panels. Despite mounting evidence of exploitation, these products enter the UK unchecked. This lack of oversight not only undermines the UK’s human rights obligations but also allows profits from forced labour to flow unchecked into the economy.

How can “Never Again” carry any weight when political leaders remain silent while atrocities of this scale are happening in our time? How can we speak of building a better future when Uyghur children are being forcibly assimilated, Uyghur women are being sterilized against their will, and Uyghur men are being worked to death in labour camps?

Survivors of the Holocaust have repeatedly warned us about the dangers of complacency. Their testimonies are a call to action, a reminder that indifference enables atrocities. Yet for the Uyghurs, the world’s indifference is a daily reality. The UK government’s failure to even acknowledge the Uyghur genocide, or even mentioning the Crimes Against Humanity perpetrated by the Chinese authorities against my people during Holocaust Memorial Day is not just a failure of leadership. It is proof it is looking the other way. As Uyghurs, we are being targeted for our religion, our culture, and our very existence. We are enduring a high-tech genocide in real-time, and the silence of the international community is deafening. To pledge “Never Again” while ignoring the ongoing persecution of the Uyghurs is to render those words meaningless. 

It is long overdue for political leaders to turn their words into action. Empty promises mean nothing to those suffering in silence, locked away in camps, or enslaved in forced labour. The UK must hold the Chinese government accountable, end complicity in these crimes, and demand justice for the Uyghurs. How much longer will leaders stand idle while genocide unfolds? How many more lives must be destroyed before they act?