Over a Million Uyghur Muslims living in China’s Xinjiang province have been forced into re-education camps where families are forced to disavow their religious beliefs, criticize themselves and their loved ones, and praise the ruling Communist party. Uyghurs are religiously oppressed by the Xi Jinping Government and are not allowed to wear traditional Islamic garments such as the women’s Hijab, forced to eat pork, drink alcohol, and forced to eat during Ramadan, the month of fasting in Islam. Recently, China declared Islam to be a ‘Contagious Disease’ and the use of re-education camps echoes tactics used by Stalin and Hitler. Other human rights abuses include forcing Uyghur women to marry Han men, denying religiously based marriages, and banning the consumption of Halal meat products. Beijing uses tools such as torture, mass arrests, and police brutality to further suppress the Uyghurs. Most nations have remained silent as the Uyghurs are discriminated against.

History

Xinjiang is a province in northwest China. For years, Chinese officials have feared that the predominantly Muslim and ethnically Turkic Uyghur population will establish an independent homeland in the region. In response, Beijing is relocating millions of ethnically Han Chinese from Eastern China to Xinjiang. The relocation has created tremendous disparity between the Han, who have access to the best educational opportunities, employment, and security, while the native Uyghurs are left behind. This disparity fuels tensions in the region.

Similar to Tibet

Tibet is another region in west China where Beijing has oppressed other minorities, specifically the Buddhist population. To this day, the Dali Lama is forbidden from entering Tibet and the Buddhist population lives in a police state. The same kinds of restrictions on fundamental human rights that Tibet continues to face today are similar to the discrimination that Uyghurs are now facing.

The U.S. Must Sanction China

Recently, a group of lawmakers has urged President Donald Trump’s Administration to impose sanctions like asset freezes and visa bans on the Chinese officials and companies allegedly tied to the discrimination of the Uyghur minority.

We urge you to send a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasurer Secretary Steve Mnuchin urging the government to apply sanctions to address the human rights crisis in Xinjiang.

The Global Magnisky Act allows the US government to place travel and financial restrictions on individuals anywhere in the world given credible proof of their role in human rights violations or corruptions.