Toulouse: students mobilize in support of the Uyghur people
Twenty students mobilized this Sunday afternoon in Toulouse in support of the Uyghur people who have been victims for several years of repression and serious attacks on freedoms by China.
At the foot of the Pierre-Paul Riquet statue in Toulouse, at the top of the Jean Jaurès alleys, around twenty students gathered signs in hand this Sunday. “For the recognition of the Uyghur genocide” could be read on one of the signs brandished by these young demonstrators. This mobilization was organized by the Student Ecologist Solidarity Humanist Association (Ahsee). “Our but is to awaken the political consciences of students”, says Jacques Pardailhe, student at the University of Toulouse 1 and president of this brand new association born last October. And for the first action, the twenty young people decided to take an interest in the dramatic situation of the Uyghurs. “We’ve all heard about this subject but since it happens outside our borders, we don’t talk about it much, our idea is to highlight the drama experienced by these people”, slips a student from Toulouse who came to participate in the market. Shortly after 2 p.m., the procession produced its march to the War Memorial. Passers-by crossing their paths came to ask them about their steps. “This is an opportunity to raise awareness”, slips Jacques Pardailhe who has every intention of repeating this type of action in the weeks to come.
As a reminder, for several years, the Chinese government has been accused of serious attacks on the individual freedoms of the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group living in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. Some members of the international community even accuse China of genocide.