Turkistan Times — 24 November 2025: The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has marked the third anniversary of the deadly Urumchi Fire, using the occasion to renew calls for accountability and transparency from the Chinese government, which continues to face international scrutiny for its treatment of the Uyghur population in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, known to many Uyghurs as East Turkistan.
The fire on November 24, 2022, erupted in a residential building in Urumchi’s Tianshan district during one of China’s strictest COVID-19 lockdown periods. According to testimonies gathered by Uyghur groups and local residents, families were unable to escape due to sealed apartment doors, metal barricades, and pandemic-related restrictions that disproportionately targeted Uyghur-majority neighborhoods. Although Chinese authorities officially reported ten fatalities, eyewitness accounts and independent reports suggest that more than 40 people—possibly at least 44—lost their lives, including women and young children.
In a statement released today, the WUC condemned what it described as the Chinese government’s “continued lack of transparency” surrounding the incident. The organization emphasized that no full investigation, victim list, or explanation for the delayed emergency response has ever been publicly released by Beijing. Firefighters were reportedly stationed nearby but arrived hours late, further fueling public outrage and distrust.
“Three years have passed, yet we still see the same disregard for Uyghur lives,” said WUC President Turgunjan Alawdun. “What would be a normal right in other countries—asking why and how their family members died—can lead to detention for Uyghurs. This tragedy must be remembered not only for the lives lost but because it reflects a broader pattern of systemic neglect and an ongoing campaign to erase the Uyghur people.”
The 2022 tragedy sparked the White Paper Movement, China’s largest wave of nationwide protests since 1989. Tens of thousands of students and citizens across major cities held blank sheets of paper to denounce censorship, harsh lockdowns, and police abuses. While many Han Chinese protesters who were detained during the demonstrations have since been released, Uyghur detainees have faced harsher consequences. One of the most prominent cases is that of Kamile Wayit, a 19-year-old Uyghur university student allegedly arrested for sharing a video of the protests on WeChat. She was later sentenced on charges of “promoting extremism” and is believed to remain imprisoned in Kashgar Women’s Prison.
As the anniversary is observed, the WUC emphasized that the Uyghur victims of the Urumchi Fire have largely been erased from China’s official narrative, even as the symbolism of the blank page remains globally recognized. The organization stated that it would continue to press for accountability and to honor the families who “continue to suffer in silence.”
