Since then, the Chinese regime has labeled Uyghurs a terror threat, justifying the severe suppression of the population as anti-terror measures, including banning students from speaking Uyghur in schools, burning religious books, and throwing Uyghurs
BEIJING—Members of the Uyghur Muslim ethnic group are calling on China to post videos of their relatives who have disappeared into a vast system of internment camps.
Yu’s account corroborates an October 2018 Radio Free Asia report that authorities in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region were "secretly transferring Uyghur detainees to prisons in Heilongjiang province and other areas throughout the country
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on countries around the world not to succumb to Beijing’s pressure and repatriate ethnic Uyghurs back to China, where they could be subject to heavy suppression.
The Chinese law has raised concerns in Taiwan and among overseas Hong Kong, Tibetan, and Uyghur communities. In the United States, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers and senators has introduced resolutions condemning the Chinese law.
The spokesperson highlighted Beijing's opposition to the DHS decision to add more than 40 entities to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, a trade blacklist that bans imports of products made with forced labor in China's Xinjiang region
The CCP justified its treatment of Uyghurs as "counterterrorism" efforts.
Official news also had started criticizing Uyghur customs, including dress, facial hair, and religious schooling.
WASHINGTON—Countries must hit China with sanctions over the mass detention of ethnic Uyghurs, hundreds of scholars said on Nov. 26, warning that a failure to act would signal acceptance of "psychological torture of innocent civilians."
In 2025, Thailand deported 40 Uyghur Muslims to China, drawing condemnation from Washington, other foreign governments, the United Nations, and rights advocacy groups.
Chinese law does not determine the political loyalties, speech, or democratic rights of Canadians of Chinese, Tibetan, Uyghur, Taiwanese, or any other ancestry.
Escalating Crackdown on Uyghur Intellectuals
At least 338 Uyghur intellectuals have been “interned, imprisoned, or forcibly disappeared” by the CCP since April 2017, a January report (PDF) by the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) found.
The CCP has used the excuse of potential “extremist threats” to justify its strict surveillance and crackdown on Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in the region.
"We are alarmed by the government of China’s worsening crackdown on Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslims in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region," U.S. charge d'affaires Mark Cassayre said.
Under the plan, the systems are to be flown first from Urumqi, in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, then transited overland through Pakistan into Iran. Sources did not specify whether the Pakistan-to-Iran leg would move by air or road.
Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, an organization for Uyghurs in exile, recently told Radio Free Asia that the recent efforts are the Chinese regime's latest attempts to force Uyghurs to surrender their culture and customs.
In this region where mainly ethnic Uyghur minorities reside, Bekri promoted Beijing’s sinicization policies to restrict Uyghur customs and language while forcing locals to adopt customs of the Han ethnic majority.
After all, Beijing’s well-documented mistreatment of the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities gives Washington a good case that the Chinese regime does use forced labor, as much as Beijing denies it.
Crackdown on Uyghurs Living in Foreign Countries
Uyghurs are an ethnic minority primarily of Sunni Muslim faith. They have lived in northwest China for millennia.
Over the years, hundreds, possibly thousands, of Uyghurs have escaped the unrest by traveling clandestinely via Southeast Asia to Turkey.
The Uyghurs in Malaysia were part of a group of more than 200 detained in Thailand in 2014.
"They first went after Falun Gong, then the Uyghur Muslims, and now we're seeing evidence that they're going after the Christians—the underground Christians," she told The Epoch Times, adding that Tibetan Buddhists came just before the Uyghurs.
Other reasons Uyghurs have been detained include growing beards in accordance with Uyghur tradition and attending religious gatherings.
“We feared going back home because everyone who goes overseas is sent to jail or detained in camps.
Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, an organization for Uyghurs in exile, told RFA he had received similar reports regarding Uyghur households.
