The Uighur people

Inside China, the world’s most populous country, people are persecuted and imprisoned for their religious beliefs. Rural migrants are deprived of their basic rights. Families are forced from their homes without compensation. And ethnic groups are suppressed and harassed.

The Uighurs are a mainly Muslim ethnic minority, who mostly live in China’s western Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

Since the 1980s Uighurs have been the target of systematic human rights violations, including imprisonment, arbitrary and incommunicado detention, violence and killings. They have faced severe restrictions on their religious freedom and their social and cultural rights.

Recently, China – which took over the area in 1949 – has exploited the international "war on terror" to suppress the Uighurs, labelling them terrorists, separatists and religious extremists.

Nearby countries, like Pakistan and Uzbekistan, assist authorities in the abuse of the fleeing Uighurs by forcing them back to China. This is in contravention of International law which says that countries are obliged not to expel, return, or extradite anybody to a place where they are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

Rebiya Kadeer, who spent six years as a prisoner of conscience in a Chinese jail, is considered the mother of the Uighur people. She now lives in exile in the US and travels the world raising awareness of the Uighurs’ plight.

For more information check out our reports: Uighurs fleeing persecution as China wages its "war on terror" and Remember the Gulja massacre? China's crackdown on peaceful protesters. You can also visit the website of the Uyghur World Congress.