UHRP Report: Chinese Authorities Deliberately Sever Uyghur Family Communication

By Uyghur Times Staff
Time and Date: February 25, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report by the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) finds that Chinese authorities have deliberately severed communication between Uyghurs living abroad and their families in the Uyghur Region (East Turkistan), describing the practice as a systematic tool of transnational repression aimed at silencing diaspora advocacy.

The report, Fading Ties: Uyghur Family Separation as a Tool of Transnational Repression, documents how surveillance, arbitrary detention, intimidation, and retaliation have been used to disrupt contact between Uyghur families across borders. Drawing on interviews with diaspora members, NGO documentation, and media reporting since 2024, the research concludes that communication has been transformed from a basic element of family life into an act fraught with risk.

According to the findings, contact between Uyghurs abroad and their relatives in East Turkistan dropped dramatically after 2016, when Chinese authorities intensified state repression in the region. Many Uyghurs living overseas report losing contact with parents, siblings, and children for years, with no information about their loved ones’ wellbeing or whereabouts.

“This research shows, unequivocally, that the disruption of family ties is not a side effect of repression. It is a tool of repression itself, mobilized by the Chinese state to silence dissent overseas, disrupt family life, and complicate intergenerational cultural transmission,” said Henryk Szadziewski, the report’s author and Director of Research at UHRP. He added that Uyghur families are enduring sustained isolation, uncertainty, and fear, as even attempting communication can expose relatives to punishment.

The report details the psychological toll of prolonged separation, including unresolved grief, chronic anxiety, and fragmentation of cultural memory. Researchers found that the threat of retaliation against family members in the Uyghur Region discourages diaspora Uyghurs from speaking publicly about human rights abuses, effectively extending repression beyond China’s borders.

“The emotional toll of family separation is profound and ongoing as it affects not just individuals, but entire communities, and impacts the basic human right to family life,” said Omer Kanat, Executive Director of UHRP. He urged governments to recognize communication loss as a form of transnational repression and to take concrete steps to protect Uyghurs who are citizens or permanent residents of their countries.

Chinese authorities have consistently denied allegations of systematic repression in the Uyghur Region, framing policies implemented since 2016 as counterterrorism and poverty alleviation measures. However, human rights organizations, independent researchers, and several governments have characterized the measures as widespread and systematic abuses, including arbitrary detention and severe restrictions on cultural and religious expression.

UHRP calls on policymakers, international human rights mechanisms, and civil society groups to formally recognize the severing of family communication as a method of transnational repression. The organization recommends integrating this recognition into monitoring and reporting mechanisms and supporting initiatives aimed at restoring contact, preserving family unity, and addressing the psychological harm experienced by diaspora communities.

Since 2016, Chinese authorities have carried out sweeping security campaigns in the Uyghur Region, including the establishment of mass detention facilities and extensive digital and physical surveillance systems. As repression intensified, contact between Uyghurs abroad and relatives at home became increasingly restricted or ceased altogether.

The new UHRP report situates family separation within this broader policy framework, arguing that the isolation of diaspora communities is not incidental but intentional—designed to suppress international advocacy and weaken transnational Uyghur networks.

For many Uyghurs living abroad, years of silence from loved ones remain a daily source of anguish, underscoring what the report describes as a deliberate strategy to fracture families and silence voices beyond China’s borders.