Uyghur Human Rights Project

✍️ New op-ed by UHRP Executive Director Omer Kanat for The Diplomat Magazine: When Xi Visits Washington, Trump Must Raise China’s ‘Ethnic Unity’ Law

Why are Uyghur Americans being forced to choose between exercising their freedoms here and protecting their relatives from retaliation in China?

Trump should raise the ethnic unity law directly with Xi and make clear that attempts to enforce it against people in the United States will not be tolerated.

Read the full article ⬇

When Xi Visits Washington, Trump Must Raise China’s ‘Ethnic Unity’ Law Trump should raise the ethnic unity law directly with Xi and make clear that attempts to enforce it against people in the United States will not be tolerated.

🗣️ Open letter to Xi Jinping ahead of DC visit 🗣️

UHRP joined 29 human rights organizations in calling upon Xi Jinping to commit to concrete actions ahead of his visit. Before he arrives in Washington next week, we urge him to:

➡️ Release prisoners of conscience
➡️ End transnational repression
➡️ Commit to legal reforms – including repealing the 2026 Ethnic Unity Law

Read the full open letter 👇

An Open Letter to Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping - Uyghur Human Rights Project September 16, 2026 The following is an open letter, led by Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) and supported by UHRP and 28 other human rights organizations, calling upon Xi Jinping to take specific actions to improve the human rights situation ahead of his upcoming visit to Washington, DC. An ope...

📰 Issue 31 of the is out!

Check out the biweekly roundup of essential reporting and analysis on the Uyghur crisis, curated by UHRP staff.

August 20, 2026 – September 2, 2026

🌾 Control Through Cotton Regulation: China’s new cotton regulation expands traceability requirements while deepening state oversight of Uyghur farmers’ land and labor, writes Asiye Uyghur for Global Voices. The article argues that land-transfer and labor policies can leave farmers without meaningful control over land and livelihoods, while greater supply-chain traceability alone does not address underlying economic coercion.

🚨 Decade of Impunity: Marking ten years since the escalation of China’s repression in the Uyghur Region, Human Rights Watch argues that the international response has weakened and urges stronger UN monitoring, forced-labor import bans, targeted sanctions, and protections for Uyghurs facing repression abroad.

💧 Reframing Karez: Proposed revisions to the Uyghur Region’s Karez Protection Regulation recast the traditional irrigation system as a symbol of Chinese national unity, writes Ablet Turdi of Uyghur Rights Monitor. Turdi argues the changes reflect a broader effort to preserve selected elements of Uyghur heritage while detaching them from Uyghur history and identity.

🇨🇦 Broken Promise: Canada has resettled fewer than 300 of the 10,000 Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples it promised to admit, writes Alex Bagdade for The McGill International Review. He argues delays leave Uyghurs vulnerable, calling for faster resettlement and stronger protection from transnational repression in Canada.

📢 Silencing Uyghur Voices: Chinese state media and pro-Beijing narratives are gaining ground in Türkiye, writes Gulchehra Hoja for Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The piece warns the trend risks marginalizing independent Uyghur voices and obscuring accounts of repression.

🔎 Read the full Uyghur Reader 🔎

The Uyghur Reader: Stories We’re Following (Issue 31) - Uyghur Human Rights Project Issue 31: August 20, 2026 – September 2, 2026  Welcome to the thirty-first issue of the Uyghur Reader, a biweekly content roundup curated by the staff of the Uyghur Human Rights Project. Each issue features carefully selected articles, reports, and publications from media outlets, academic instit...

China's new Ethnic Unity Law codifies its brutal persecution of Uyghur religious believers into national law.

“Uyghurs cannot practice their faith freely, even at home, and under this law, they are told their religion must serve the Party or not exist at all.” – UHRP's Omer Kanat

Ahead of tomorrow's International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, UHRP renews calls for international action condemning the law and raising the cases of Uyghur victims.

On International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, UHRP Renews Call to Action for Uyghur Victims - Uyghur Human Rights Project For immediate release August 21, 2022, 10:00 a.m. EDT Contact: Omer Kanat, +1 (202) 790-1795 On the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) highlights Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples who have been persecuted...

📖 Issue 30 of the – A biweekly roundup of essential reporting and analysis on the Uyghur crisis, curated by UHRP staff.

August 6, 2026 – August 19, 2026

🇦🇺 Family Separation as Leverage: Chinese authorities are targeting Uyghur Australians who visit East Turkistan, pressuring some to collect information on others in the diaspora. Yalkun Uluyol for Human Rights Watch warns that this pressure has had a chilling effect on Uyghur community life in Australia.

✈️ Conditional Visits Home: Beijing increasingly allows some diaspora Uyghurs to visit relatives in East Turkistan, but they face interrogation and pressure to surveil others, write Adrian Zenz and Muetter Tohti for Foreign Policy. The authors argue China is exploiting family separation, using conditional visits to influence and silence Uyghurs abroad.

📚 Kalbinur Sidik Speaks Out: In her new memoir, Heart Full of Light, Kalbinur Sidik describes the atrocities she witnessed while teaching detainees in camps in East Turkistan and her journey to testify publicly despite pressure from Chinese authorities. "[A] wake-up call to a world that has not been listening," writes Ruth Ingram, reviewing the book for The Diplomat Magazine.

🐟 Forced-Labor Seafood: Tianyun, China’s premier fish farm in East Turkistan, has links to government-sponsored labor-transfer programs involving Uyghurs. A new report from The Outlaw Ocean Project (Ian Urbina) reveals seafood from Tianyun has entered global supply chains, including those supplying U.S. food-service giant Sysco.

🔎 Read the full Uyghur Reader to learn more ⬇

Uyghur Reader: Stories We're Following (Issue 30) - Uyghur Human Rights Project Issue 30: August 6, 2026 – August 19, 2026  Welcome to the thirtieth issue of the Uyghur Reader, a biweekly content roundup curated by the staff of the Uyghur Human Rights Project. Each issue features carefully selected articles, reports, and publications from media outlets, academic institutions...

New report from Human Rights Watch on China's surveillance, intimidation, and harassment of Uyghur Australians, including:

➡️ Interrogating Uyghur Australians visiting East Turkistan
➡️ Coercing Uyghurs to collect & report information on others in the diaspora
➡️ Exploiting vulnerability of separated families & suppressing diaspora activities

Governments like Australia must protect Uyghur diaspora communities within their borders from transnational repression.

Australia: Chinese Government Menaces Uyghur Diaspora The Chinese government is interrogating Uyghur Australians visiting Xinjiang, pressing them to collect information on Uyghurs in Australia.

📖 Issue 29 of the – A biweekly roundup of essential reporting and analysis on the Uyghur crisis, curated by UHRP staff.

July 23, 2026 – August 5, 2026

📦 Imports Barred for Forced Labor: The US added 43 companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) entity list, barring imports over ties to Uyghur forced labor, write Karen Freifeld and Eduardo Baptista for Reuters.

🇨🇳 Ethnic Unity Law: China's recently enacted ethnic unity law codifies Xi’s decade-long campaign to shift from promises of autonomy to forced assimilation, thereby embedding this new phase of repression into every level of government, warn James Leibold and Tenzin Dorjee. (Foreign Affairs)

🗣 Testimony of a Chinese Police Officer: Li Yuan profiles Zhang Yabo, a former police officer in the Uyghur Region, sharing his account of participating in repressive campaigns against Uyghurs and examining Zhang's assertion that he, too, is a victim. (The New York Times)

🍅 Forced-Labor Risk Obscured: Forensic testing has revealed that tomatoes sold by major Australian brands originate from the Uyghur Region despite being labeled as from Australia or Italy, obscuring ties to Uyghur forced-labor risk, report Adele Ferguson, Chris Gillett, and Madi Chwasta. (ABC Australia)

🔎 Read the full Uyghur Reader:

The Uyghur Reader: Stories We’re Following (Issue 29) - Uyghur Human Rights Project Issue 29: July 23, 2026 – August 5, 2026 Welcome to the twenty-ninth issue of the Uyghur Reader, a biweekly content roundup curated by the staff of the Uyghur Human Rights Project.  Each issue features carefully selected articles, reports, and publications from media outlets, academic institution...

✍Op-ed by UHRP Executive Director Omer Kanat in The Diplomat Magazine – China’s ‘Ethnic Unity’ Law is Already Harming Uyghurs:

One month after implementation, China's ‘ethnic unity’ law is already harming Uyghurs and other ethnic groups and dissidents.

Government actions that could once be described as regional campaigns are now embedded in national legislation. Restrictions will become easier to expand and harder to challenge.

Governments must take decisive action to challenge the law and protect diaspora communities before it is too late.

Read more ⬇

China’s ‘Ethnic Unity’ Law is Already Harming Uyghurs Government actions that could once be described as regional campaigns are now embedded in national legislation. Restrictions will become easier to expand and harder to challenge.

UHRP welcomes the Department of Homeland Security’s addition of 43 entities to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act entity list. It is the largest single expansion to date, bringing the total number of entities to 187.

The newly listed companies operate across industries including critical minerals, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and electronics, demonstrating the scope of Uyghur forced labor embedded in global supply chains.

“Uyghurs have long awaited stronger action against companies linked to forced labor,” said UHRP Executive Director Omer Kanat. “We are grateful to U.S. officials for taking action to help ensure that goods made with Uyghur forced labor do not enter American markets. Adding 43 companies to the UFLPA Entity List sends a clear message: companies must not be allowed to profit from forced labor.”

UHRP Welcomes Largest-Ever Expansion of UFLPA Entity List - Uyghur Human Rights Project For immediate release July 31, 2026, 6:30PM EST Contact: Omer Kanat, +1 (202) 790-1795 The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) welcomes the Department of Homeland Security’s addition of 43 entities to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act entity list. It is the largest single expansion to date, br...