Uyghur Policy Act of 2025 · Referred in Senate (2025-09-03)

119th CONGRESS 1st Session

To support the human rights of Uyghurs and members of other minority groups residing primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and safeguard their distinct identity, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES · Committee: Committee on Foreign Relations

SEC. 2. Findings

Congress finds the following:

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) continues to repress the distinct Islamic, Turkic identity of Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in northwestern China and other areas of their habitual residence.
Uyghurs, and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities historically making up the majority of the XUAR population, have maintained throughout their history a distinct religious and cultural identity.
Human rights, including freedom of religion or belief, and respect for the Uyghurs’ unique Muslim identity are legitimate interests of the international community.
The PRC has ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and is thereby bound by its provisions. The PRC has also signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
An official campaign to encourage Han Chinese migration into the XUAR has placed immense pressure on those who seek to preserve the ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic traditions of the Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups.
PRC authorities have supported an influx of Han Chinese economic immigrants into the XUAR, implemented discrimination against Uyghurs and other minorities in hiring practices, and provided unequal access to healthcare services.
PRC authorities have manipulated the strategic objectives of the international war on terror to mask their increasing cultural and religious oppression of the Muslim population residing in the XUAR.
Following unrest in the region, in 2014, Chinese authorities launched their campaign, in which dubious allegations of widespread extremist activity were used as justification for gross human rights violations committed against Uyghurs and members of other minority communities in the XUAR. Strike Hard against Violent Extremism
PRC authorities have made use of the legal system as a tool of repression, including for the imposition of arbitrary detentions and for torture against members of the Uyghur community and other minority populations.
Uyghurs and Kazakhs who have secured citizenship or permanent residency outside of the PRC have attested to repeated threats, harassment, and surveillance by PRC officials.
Reporting from international news organizations has found that over the past decade, family members of Uyghurs and other minority groups living outside of the PRC have gone missing or been detained to force Uyghur expatriates to return to the PRC or silence their dissent.
In 2017, Radio Free Asia’s Uyghur Service was the first media organization to report on the PRC’s vast, mass arbitrary-detention program in the XUAR in 2017.
Credible evidence from human rights organizations, think tanks, and journalists confirms that more than 1,000,000 Uyghurs and members of other ethnic minority groups have been imprisoned in extrajudicial centers. political reeducation
Independent accounts from former detainees of centers describe inhumane conditions and treatment including forced political indoctrination, torture, beatings, rape, forced sterilization, and food deprivation. political reeducation
Former detainees also confirmed that they were told by guards that the only way to secure release was to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty to the PRC Government.
Popular discourse surrounding the ongoing atrocities in the XUAR and advocacy efforts to assist Uyghurs remains muted in most Muslim majority nations around the world.
Former Secretary of States Antony Blinken and Michael Pompeo and Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the PRC Government has committed genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in the XUAR.
Government bodies of multiple nations have also declared that PRC Government’s atrocities against such populations in the XUAR constitute genocide, including the parliaments of the United Kingdom, Belgium, Czechia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Canada.

SEC. 3. Sense of Congress

It is the Sense of Congress that—

the Government of the People’s Republic of China should immediately open the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) to regular, transparent, and unmanipulated visits by members of the press, international organizations including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, academic and human rights research institutions, as well as foreign delegations including from the United States Congress;
the Government of the People’s Republic of China should recognize, and take tangible steps to protect and preserve, the distinct ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic identity of Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in the XUAR;
the Government of the People’s Republic of China should cease all government-sponsored crackdowns, imprisonments, and detentions of people throughout the XUAR aimed at repressing their ethnic, cultural, political, or religious identities;
the Government of the People’s Republic of China should cease all government-sponsored transnational repression of Uyghurs, including the detainment, harassment, intimidation, and surveillance of the family members of exiled Uyghurs and Uyghur activists;
it is commendable for countries to provide shelter and hospitality to Uyghurs and other minority group members in exile, as Turkey, Albania, and Germany have done;
urges all countries, especially fellow democracies and those with sizeable Muslim populations, to condemn and address the plight of Uyghurs and other minority communities in the XUAR;
the Government of the People’s Republic of China should immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners that have been detained for their ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic identities, for expressing their political or religious beliefs in the XUAR, or for being related to members of the Uyghur diaspora or activist community including—
- Ekper Asat, who participated in the Department of State’s International Visitors Leadership Program in 2016, was incarcerated after returning to the XUAR, and is now serving a 15 year prison sentence on charges of ; inciting ethnic hatred and ethnic discrimination
- Dr. Gulshan Abbas, a retired medical doctor and Uyghur, who was wrongfully detained in the XUAR on September 11, 2018, and unjustly sentenced to 20 years in prison in retaliation for her sister’s advocacy for Uyghur human rights issues; and
- Kamile Wayit, a university student and Uyghur, who was wrongfully detained on December 12, 2022, after returning to the XUAR while on break from studying during the winter holiday;
the Government of the People’s Republic of China should facilitate access for international humanitarian organizations, including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, to the centers in the XUAR to ensure prisoners are not being mistreated and are receiving necessary medical care; and political reeducation

SEC. 4. United States strengthening of coordination on Uyghur issues

(a) In general

The Secretary of State, as appropriate, shall—
- prioritize policies, programs, and projects to support the Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in the XUAR;
- vigorously promote the policy of seeking to protect the distinct ethnic, religious, cultural, and linguistic identity of the Uyghurs and other minority groups and seek improved protection of human rights in the XUAR;
- direct the State Department to maintain close contact with Uyghur religious, cultural, and political leaders, including seeking regular travel to the XUAR and to Uyghur populations in Central Asia, Turkey, Albania, Germany, and other parts of Europe;
- lead coordination efforts for the release of political prisoners in the XUAR who are being detained for exercising their human rights or being relatives of exiled Uyghurs;
- consult with the United States Congress on policies relevant to the XUAR and the Uyghurs;
- coordinate with relevant Federal agencies to administer aid to Uyghur rights advocates;
- make efforts to establish contacts with foreign ministries of other countries, especially in Europe, Central Asia, and members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, to pursue a policy of promoting greater respect for human rights and religious freedom for Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups from the XUAR;
- utilize the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and United States Strategic Dialogue to address Uyghur rights, working with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation individual member states to develop and implement joint initiatives and programs aimed at promoting awareness of Uyghur rights, and support Uyghur victims of detainment, harassment, and transnational repression;
- support independent media authorized under PL 111/202 22 U.S.C. 6208 of the 111th Congress that conduct reporting and investigative journalism focused on the XUAR, including in local languages, to ensure that further PRC human rights abuses are reported on;
- work with international partners to raise awareness concerning acts of transnational repression against Uyghur Americans or Uyghurs exiled in the United States;
- develop and implement strategies to prevent and respond to the transnational repression of Uyghur Americans and Uyghurs exiled in the United States;
- establish a reporting mechanism for individuals to report incidents of transnational repression; and
- submit an annual report, including a classified annex if necessary, to Congress on actions taken by the United States to address and prevent transnational repression against Uyghurs in the United States, and recommendations for further legislative or policy measures.

(b) Support

The Secretary of State shall ensure the Department of State has adequate resources, staff, and administrative support to carry out this section.

SEC. 5. Funding for human rights advocates to conduct public diplomacy in the Islamic world on the Uyghur situation

Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated for the United States Speaker Program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State, $250,000 for each of fiscal years 2025, 2026, and 2027 is authorized to be made available to support human rights advocates working on behalf of the Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups from the XUAR that are persecuted in the PRC, whose names may be provided by the Department of State in consultation with representatives of the global Uyghur community, to speak at global public diplomacy forums, particularly those in which Organisation of Islamic Cooperation countries and other Muslim-majority countries are present, on issues regarding the human rights and religious freedom of Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups persecuted in the PRC.

SEC. 7. Access to detention facilities and prisons and the release of prisoners

(a) Strategy on political reeducation and detention facilities

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, develop a strategy to cooperate with like-minded partners to pressure the People’s Republic of China to—
- close all detention facilities and camps housing Uyghurs and members of other ethnic minority groups in the XUAR; political reeducation
- allow unhindered access to detention facilities and camps in the XUAR by independent media, researchers, international organizations and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for a comprehensive assessment of the human rights situation; and political reeducation
- protect human rights and preserve the distinct religious and cultural identity of the Uyghurs and the other religious and ethnic minority communities in the XUAR.

(b) Report on strategy and implementation

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report, including a classified annex if necessary, that includes—
- the strategy developed pursuant to subsection (a); and
- all the steps taken to implement such strategy pursuant to the objectives described in subsection (a).

SEC. 8. Requirement for Uyghur language training

(a) Uyghur language training and staffing

The Secretary of State shall take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that—
- Uyghur language training is available to Foreign Service officers as appropriate; and
- every effort is made to ensure that at least 1 Uyghur-speaking member of the Foreign Service (as such term is defined by section 103 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 ()) is assigned to each United States diplomatic or consular post in China. 22 U.S.C. 3903

(b) Report

No later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 2 years, the Foreign Service Institute shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report that outlines all the steps taken to implement subsection (a).

SEC. 9. Uyghur considerations at the United Nations

The President should direct the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States to—

oppose any efforts to prevent consideration of the gross violation of internationally recognized human rights in the XUAR in any body of the United Nations;
oppose any efforts to prevent the participation of any Uyghur human rights advocates in nongovernmental fora hosted by or otherwise organized under the auspices of any body of the United Nations; and
support the appointment of a special rapporteur or working group for the XUAR for the purposes of monitoring human rights violations and abuses in the XUAR, and for making reports available to the High Commissioner for Refugees, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the HumanRights Commission, the General Assembly, and other United Nations bodies.

H.R. 2635

Table of contents

SEC. 1. Short title