Actions you can take to support the Uyghurs during the Beijing Olympics

This Friday marks the beginning of the Beijing Winter Olympics, coined the Genocide Games by campaigners and activists across the world due to China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minority populations in Xinjiang. It is estimated that anywhere between 1 and 3 million Uyghurs are forcibly detained in “re-education camps”, where systemic sexual violence, cultural erasure, birth suppression, organ harvesting and torture are commonplace. And outside the camps, Uyghurs are transported across China to work in factories, under prison-like conditions and subject to a mass-surveillance state that monitors their daily practices. 

Want to know how you can show solidarity with the Uyghurs during the games? Here are our top tips:

Educate yourself: For meaningful and systemic change to take place, we must first arm ourselves with the knowledge and awareness to do so. Hope Not Hate has a resource hub to help you understand what is going on in Xinjiang. 

Amplify: Our polling found that just over half of the UK population know that the Chinese authorities have locked up anywhere between one and three million Uyghur and other Turkic minorities in “re-education camps”. This is an issue that is still not getting a lot of attention it requires in the media, so it is up to everyone else to make noise. Sharing petitions and resources with your social networks can be a great way to start a conversation (take a look at the social media table below).  

Use your voice during the Olympics: The Winter Olympics are being held in Beijing this year. Campaigners and activists have labelled it the Genocide Games. You can use the hashtag #GenocideGames across your socials and sign and follow these actions from End Forced Labour Fashion.

If you are on Twitter: You can help raise attention to the atrocities taking place in Xinjiang by using the hashtag #GenocideGames to mark the beginning of the opening ceremony (Friday 4 February 12 noon UK time). 

Buy consciously: 1 in 5 cotton garments are tainted with Uyghur forced labour. You can make sure you are not financially supporting forced labour by looking for GOTS or BCI certifications on cotton garments. Better still, ask brands where they source their cotton from and let them know you are aware of the fashion industry’s complicity in the Uyghur forced labour. Endorse the global campaign for fashion brands to end complicity in Uyghur forced labour here. 

Contact your MP: Write or email your local MP to raise concerns over Airbnb’s and Coca Cola’s sponsorship of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. You can download a template letter here.

Useful social media accounts to follow: