Campaign Update (12/6/19): We did it! With the support of over 4,000 of you who wrote letters to your representatives, the Uighur Intervention and Global Humanitarian Unified Response (UIGHUR) Act of 2019 passed in the U.S. House on December 3rd. This was a collective effort and proof that our demands were heard!

Now, we need the U.S. Senate to pass the bill before it can be signed into law. Take action now to tell your Senators to condemn China’s grave human rights violations of an estimated 3 million Muslims who are being held in prison camps in the region known as “Xinjiang.”

Since 2014, the Chinese government has disappeared and detained an estimated 3 MILLION Muslims in concentration camps in the region known as “Xinjiang” [1] [2]. China has limited the ability of international media and human rights watchdogs to enter the camps, but what has been reported from those who’ve escaped is horrific—indoctrination, torture, compulsory labor, forced sterilization, and killings [3].

TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES: CONDEMN CHINA’S HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS OF MUSLIMS.

For years, China denied the existence of these camps. Now, they claim the camps are for “vocational education” which the detainees are receiving in the name of “anti-terrorism.” Chinese militarized police have significantly cracked down on Muslim communities outside of the camps, establishing curfews, numerous check-points, and an invasive and extremely advanced high-tech surveillance network. Throughout the region, there is an undercurrent of fear, as people worry about whether they or their loved ones will go missing next—with certainty that if they speak out, they will be targeted.

A bill has been introduced in the US Congress called the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019, which condemns these human rights violations. Imagine if the government disappeared and detained the entire state of Nevada -- that’s the magnitude of violence happening in China. 3 MILLION people’s lives hang in the balance. Write to your representatives now to demand support for the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019.

This international human rights issue is deeply connected with the repression of communities of color in the US. The “War on Terror” narrative originated in the US and has been used to justify Islamophobic violence here and across the world. The corporations supplying technology for China’s surveillance of Muslims are some of the same enabling ICE’s concentration camps at the southern border [4]. Furthermore, evidence shows that the technologies developed in “Xinjiang” will likely be used for surveillance and oppression of those labeled as “terrorists” in countries throughout the world [5].

The oppression of Muslims in the region predates the concentration camps—including the colonization of the region by the Han Chinese and a history of military repression [6]. While the Chinese government claims its current anti-Muslim crackdown is based in “counter-terrorism,” its motives are clearly economic. “Xinjiang” is the site of China’s current Belt and Road Initiative, which would make for a lucrative trade route to neighboring countries while also taking advantage of the region’s abundant oil, natural gas, and mineral resources [7]. There have been resistance movements in the region for decades, which have been met with violent state repression. Muslim populations are an obstacle to the Chinese government’s economic plans for the region—and the state’s solution is genocide.

Muslim communities and allies have been resisting China’s crackdown for years. Many, particularly those living in diaspora with family in the region, have spoken out, risking potentially severe consequences for themselves and the people they love. Now, they need our support.

Let’s make our voices heard in the fight against global Islamophobia and imperialism by demanding our representatives support the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019 [8].

To learn more about the Chinese government’s repression and genocide of Muslim people, check out this resource document.

Co-Sponsors:

Alliance of South Asians Taking Action

Asians4BlackLives

Council on American-Islamic Relations—California

National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance

VietUnity—East Bay

Hashtag: #CloseChinasCamps

Notes & Sources:

[1] While conservative estimates range from 1-3 million, activists estimate there are 4.1-4.4 million people missing or detained, based on satellite imaging of the camps, accounts from relatives, and anecdotes from people who have escaped the region.

[2] “Xinjiang” is the Chinese name for this region, which has been colonized by the Han Chinese but is home to many indigenous Muslim ethnic groups, including Uighur/Uyghur, Sarikoli/Tashkurgani, Wakhi, Salar, Santa/Dongxiang, Bonan, Kachee, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek peoples. An alternative name which some indigenous activists have reclaimed is Dzungarstan-Altishahr, or the Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin Region (DTBR), which acknowledges the region’s history.

[3] Muslim women ‘sterilised’ in China detention camps, say former detainees

[4] Microsoft accused of being 'complicit' in persecution of 1 million Muslims after helping China develop sinister AI capabilities; Microsoft Employees Question C.E.O. Over Company’s Contract With ICE

[5] Statement by Concerned Scholars on China’s Mass Detention of Turkic Minorities

[6] Explainer: who are the Uyghurs and why is the Chinese government detaining them?

[7] Beijing’s Long Struggle to Control Xinjiang’s Mineral Wealth