Montrealers gathered at Dorchester Square, in downtown Montreal, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Urumqi Massacre, and raise awareness about the persecution and violence faced by ethnic Muslim minorities. The protest was held on July 6, to memorialize the events of July 5, 2009.

On July 5, 2009, in Urumqi, hundreds of university students were arrested and killed, with thousands injured by the Chinese paramilitary police. The students were protesting the deaths of Uyghur factory workers, and the mistreatment and human rights violations faced by Turkic ethnic groups living in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, also known as East Turkestan.

China has denied all claims of human rights violations happening in the region.

However, according to Human Rights Watch, the Chinese government has employed mass arbitrary detention of more than a million Uyghurs. The organization highlighted that those detained have been subjected to torture, surveillance, forced labour, cultural persecution, and violation of religious freedoms.

Speakers and supporters denounced the history of force having been used on Turkic ethnic groups and individuals of Uyghur descent over the years, highlighting the 1997 Ghulja Massacre.

They brought awareness to the persecution and oppression Uyghurs and Turkic Muslims faced at the hands of the Chinese government.

Bakhtiar Semseddin, the president of the International Support for Uyghurs (ISU) organization said he wished the world would do more to end the violation of human rights Uyghurs are subjected to. Uyghurs are subjected to forced labour, cultural erasure, and organ harvesting, and many women undergo forced sterilization.

Semseddin called on the different governments, international organizations and people to join the movement and protest the exploitation of Uyghur labour and the mistreatment of the community.