Chinese regime launches ethnic identity change policy in Uighur homeland

The police in the Uighur homeland (XUAR) started to ask residents to change their ethnic identity on the police record, according to an advertisement posted in a Wechat (a Chinese social media app) group called “Xinjiang group for lost people”.

The post said: “with this application developed by Xinjiang Public security department you can handle formalities of registering ID, temporary residence proof, household registration, change residency address, change ID names, change ethnic identity, deleting household”.

Read the full story at uighurtimes.com, May 23, 2019

Database of Christians established in Henan Province

The surveillance of church members is increasing, as their every move is monitored and personal information analyzed for further suppression and control.

Last year, local governments across China launched a campaign to comprehensively register and investigate religious people, with databases of believers and religious venues springing up across the country. Comprehensive investigations into religious belief are being carried out in government institutions, the military, state-run enterprises, schools, and hospitals.

One such big data management system called “Religious Affairs Management and Service Platform” has been set up in central China’s Henan province. Some religious figures are worried that the establishment of such big-data platforms is conducive to further surveillance, restriction, and even suppression of religious believers.

Read the full story at bitterwinter.org, May 23, 2019

CAIR Urges US Congress to pressure China to end Uyghur Concentration Camps

On Wednesday, May 22, the Maryland office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Burma Task Force, and the ICNA Council for Social Justice today launched a petition urging Maryland residents to call on their representatives in Congress to support the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019 and to pressure China to close its concentration camps where up to 3 million Uyghur Muslims are being held.

“The Uyghur situation in China is a human rights crisis, and it is devastating to watch world leaders not pressuring China on it,” said Rameez Abed of ICNA Council for Social Justice. “As citizens of this world, we must do everything in our power to bring attention to this issue and awareness to our elected officials in hopes that our government will act to stop these crimes against humanity.”

CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.

Read the full story at cair.com, May 22, 2019

US Senate takes an important step towards Uyghur Human Rights Act

On Wednesday, May 22, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed Uyghur Human Rights Act introduced by U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ).

“It is long overdue to hold Chinese government and Communist Party officials accountable for systemic and egregious human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang,” Rubio said in a statement. “The Senate Foreign Relations Committee took an important step today by marking up our bipartisan Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act. I urge the full Senate and the House to quickly pass this bill so the President can enact it into law.”

“Today we are all Uyghurs, and China’s horrific and systematic abuse of its Uyghur minority is an affront to all people who value the principles of universal human rights, and Beijing’s imposition of systemic mass surveillance in Xinjiang should send a chill down the spine of every person who values humanity, human life, and ethnic, religious and cultural freedom,” Menendez said.

Read the full story at rubio.senate.gov, May 22, 2019

World Uyghur Congress to convene global conference on Uyghur Crisis in Washington D.C.

From June 6-7 2019, the World Uyghur Congress in cooperation with the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), Uyghur American Association (UAA) and the Central Asia Program at George Washington University will hold a two-day international conference in Washington DC, Confronting Atrocities in China: The Global Response to the Uyghur Crisis. Proceedings will begin at 10:00 with an opening ceremony on June 6th at Capitol Hill.

The primary aim of the conference will be to bring together political leaders, international agencies, human rights activists, academic experts, Uyghur leaders and the Uyghur community abroad to provide updates on the responses underway and to collectively develop additional strategies to pressure the Chinese government to close the camps and respect Uyghurs’ and other Turkic Muslims’ fundamental rights.

Read the full story at uyghurcongress.org