Press Release – For immediate release
7 May 2019
Contact: World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
0049 (0) 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

As millions of Muslims around the world have begun to observe the holy month the Ramadan, the WUC would like to highlight the plight of the Uyghur people in East Turkistan, who are not able to fully observe Ramadan due to the heavy religious persecution and restrictions imposed by the Chinese government. Uyghurs are not able to engage in even the most basic aspects of religious practice and are being completely denied their right to freedom of religion, in contravention to China’s own constitution.

The extent of the religious persecution that the Uyghur population faces in 2019 in East Turkistan (officially the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China) is virtually unparalleled. Even the most basic expressions of religious sentiment have been banned by the Chinese government and Uyghurs are banned from wearing traditional Islamic dress, displaying of the crescent moon, owing a Quran and other religious texts, praying at home with others or holding private religious ceremonies, giving Uyghur children traditional Islamic names, and teaching children in the spirit of Islam. Mosques in East Turkistan are now largely empty and are surrounded by razor wire and security cameras.

The Chinese government tolerates no authority higher than its own and religious belief is seen as a direct threat to the absolute authority of the CCP. For this reason, the Chinese government has launched an intentional and systematic campaign to control every aspect of religious practice in East Turkistan and erode religious sentiment entirely. The Chinese Communist Party’s restrictions on religious belief are merely one aspect of a broader plan to totally assimilate the Uyghur population and destroy the Uyghur identity. China now operates hundreds of political indoctrination camps in the region that operate effectively as prisons. Estimates of those detain stand between one and two million people in the camps as of April 2019. Religious expression is one of the primary criteria for detention in the camps.

The CCP’s antagonism towards Islam and all religions in China is evident. Chinese officials have described Islam as an ‘ideological illness’ that must be ‘eradicated’. Through the mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs in internment camps, the indoctrination of the younger generation of Uyghurs and the launch of a campaign to ‘sinify’ Islam in China, the Chinese government is trying to undermine and erode religious sentiment entirely. International scholars and observers have noted that China has created a “no rights zone” in East Turkistan and their actions may amount to crimes against humanity.

The religious persecution Uyghurs face only intensifies during the holy month of Ramadan. Each year, the Chinese government imposes additional measures targeting freedom of religion. The Chinese government has banned Uyghur civil servants, students and teachers from fasting during the holy month, providing food and water to students throughout the day. Access to mosques is more tightly controlled, restaurants have been ordered to remain open and in some cases Uyghur intellectuals have been arrested beforehand to silence criticism.

In 2017, the Chinese government embedded Chinese officials in the homes of Uyghurs in a bid to prevent Uyghurs from praying and fasting. The government launched a campaign called “Together in Five Things” a day ahead the holy month with officials staying in Uyghur homes for up to 15 days to ensure that resident neither fast nor pray. The officials stayed in the Uyghur homes as a means of better understanding the “ideological views” of the families and to propagate laws and regulations, and government ethnic and religious policies. Chinese officials have also forced Uyghur retirees to make a pledge ahead of Ramadan that they won’t fast or pray during Ramadan to set an example for the rest of the community and to assume responsibility for ensuring that none of their friends or family members fast or pray either.

Sadly, religious repression increased once again during Ramadan in 2018. Numerous reports of deaths of Uyghurs in political indoctrination camps, Uyghur children being forced to sign pledges saying they would not fast during Ramadan and other serious violations have shown that the situation continues to worsen. In 2019, the situation for Uyghur Muslims in East Turkistan during Ramadan looks set to deteriorate even further.

“China tells the world it respects freedom of religion, yet it deprives the entire Uyghur Muslim population of that right,” WUC President Dolkun Isa stated. “The Chinese government must abide by its own constitution and international law and stop its horrific persecution of Uyghur Muslims and all other religious groups in China.”

A person’s right to freedom of religion is one of the most fundamental human rights and must to protected by the government, rather than restricted. One’s religious beliefs and practices are one of the most essential aspects of human existence that shape our conceptions of morality, humanity and the possibility of an afterlife. Such an important facet of our existence must never be controlled by the state, it is a deeply personal decision that we must all decide for ourselves. During the holy month of Ramadan the WUC implores the international community to speak out for the Uyghur people in East Turkistan, who are being denied this most basic right.