Washington DC (US)

The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) on January 19 marked East Turkistan / Uyghur Genocide Recognition and Remembrance Day, observing the fifth anniversary of the United States Department of State's formal recognition of China's actions in Occupied East Turkistan as genocide and crimes against humanity.

In a statement shared on the social media platform X, ETGE recalled that on January 19, 2021, the United States officially determined that the People's Republic of China was committing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in Occupied East Turkistan, also referred to as Xinjiang.

🕯️Earlier today, Uyghurs gathered in front of the @WhiteHouse to mark East Turkistan/Uyghur Genocide Recognition & Remembrance Day and the 5th anniversary of U.S. @StateDept's recognition of China’s ongoing genocide. Recognition without accountability has not stopped it—justice,… pic.twitter.com/jiVxDPk4hh

— East Turkistan National Movement (@ETNational) January 19, 2026

The recognition, ETGE noted, was followed by similar determinations from more than a dozen national parliaments, condemnation by 51 United Nations member states, and an assessment by the UN Human Rights Office concluding that China's actions amount to crimes against humanity.

Despite these international findings, ETGE said that Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic communities continue to face what it described as ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity. The group cited alleged abuses including mass internment, forced labour, forced sterilisation, family separation, organ harvesting, and the systematic destruction of Turkic and Muslim identity and culture. These violations, it said, have been documented in the US Department of State's China 2024 Human Rights Report, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China's 2025 Annual Report, and Genocide Watch's 2025 Emergency Alert.

ALSO READ: India, UAE signs deals to deepen partnership during MBZ's short Delhi visit

ETGE asserted that the international record demonstrates that recognition of genocide without concrete action has failed to halt the abuses. It stated that unless recognition is accompanied by accountability measures and the dismantling of what it termed Chinese colonial domination, the genocide and crimes against humanity in East Turkistan would continue.

The group further maintained that decolonisation and the restoration of East Turkistan's independence and sovereignty are the only ways to end the alleged genocide and ensure the survival, freedoms, and human rights of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples.