The push for a Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act in the United States: recent developments in Uyghur activism

Abstract

ABSTRACT Since 2017, the Chinese government’s internment campaign of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples has prompted unprecedented interest in human rights issues in Xinjiang. Academia, non-governmental organizations, and the Uyghur community in the United States have responded with an upswing of activism urging states to protect Uyghurs in China and overseas through policy and legislation. The United States administration and Congress have been the most vocal about internment in Xinjiang. Legislative measures, such as the UHRP and UIGHUR Acts offer a framework to sanction Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses in Xinjiang and mobilize U.S. law enforcement to end harassment of Uyghur-Americans demonstrating the parallels between activism and state action. The UHRP and UIGHUR Acts are the first meaningful responses to human rights issues in Xinjiang; however, the pursuit of legal accountability should not become captive to changing strategic ambitions.