Uyghur Human Rights Project

📖 New – A biweekly roundup of essential reporting and analysis on the Uyghur crisis, curated by UHRP staff.

Issue 24, May 14, 2026 – May 27, 2026

📸 Data Centers & Surveillance Tech: In a new report from C4ADS, Mishel Kondi warns that China's expanding data centers, a key part of the surveillance infrastructure targeting Uyghurs, rely on American and Taiwanese technology.

📝 Family Separation: In a moving letter published by Kashgar Times, Akida Pulat reflects on nine years of separation from her mother, imprisoned Uyghur scholar Rahile Dawut, marking her mother's birthday and highlighting her dedication to preserving Uyghur culture.

🇨🇳 "State Secret" Regulations: China's new security regulation in the Uyghur Region broadens the definition of "state secrets," further restricting access to information, warns Asiye Uyghur, writing for Global Voices.

📦 Forced Labor Import Bans: In a new policy brief, Laura Murphy and the Ryan-Carr Center for Human Rights outline how governments can strengthen forced labor import bans through mechanisms including rebuttable presumptions and greater international coordination.

🏭Forced Labor Transfers: The transfer of Uyghur laborers to factories across China has increased since the end of China’s zero-COVID policies, raising concerns over forced labor in global supply chains, warns Adrian Zenz, as reported by Simon Ferrigno for Ecotextile News.

🔎Read the full Uyghur Reader:

The Uyghur Reader: Stories We're Following (Issue 24) - Uyghur Human Rights Project Issue 24: May 14, 2026 – May 27, 2026 Welcome to the twenty-fourth issue of the Uyghur Reader, a biweekly content roundup curated by the staff of the Uyghur Human Rights Project. Each issue features carefully selected articles, reports, and publications from media outlets, academic institutions, N...

New UHRP 💡

“On World Press Freedom Day, it is worth being honest about who benefits from the comfort with the informational void that is the Uyghur Region and who continues to pay the price for it.”

As approaches, Henryk Szadziewski examines how China's repression of Uyghur-language media, harassment and imprisonment of journalists, and global propaganda efforts have created that void – and why the world must keep asking hard questions.

Press Freedom, Uyghurs, and Unquestioned Narratives - Uyghur Human Rights Project May 1, 2026 A UHRP Insights column by Dr. Henryk Szadziewski, Director of Research. World Press Freedom Day arrives this year against the backdrop of some challenging numbers. Reporters Without Borders ranks China 178th out of 180 countries on its 2025 Press Freedom Index, a lowly position it has oc...

📖 New – A biweekly roundup of essential reporting and analysis on the Uyghur crisis, curated by UHRP staff.

Issue 22, covering April 16-29, 2026.

📡Targeted Digital TNR: A new report from The Citizen Lab and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) documents the Chinese government's digital transnational repression tactics against diaspora activists – weaponizing trusted communication channels to trick activists, surveil networks, and sow distrust within diaspora communities. (Rebekah Brown, Maia Scott, Marcus Michaelson, Emile Dirks, Francesca Thaler)

🧸 Forced Labor & Consumer Goods: Reporting in The New York Times found testing of popular Labubu dolls uncovered cotton sourced from the Uyghur Region, linking a major consumer brand to supply chains implicated in state-imposed forced labor and highlighting continued enforcement gaps under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. (Ana Claire Swanson, Sapna Maheshwari, Meagan Tobin)

🎓 Uyghur Youth Leadership Recognized: Cornell undergraduate Zilala Mamat is one of three recipients of this year’s Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Awards, honoring her advocacy for Uyghurs in exile and her work supporting diaspora youth through United Uyghur Youth and Rawan Mentorship. (Olivia Hall, for Cornell Chronicle)

⚠️ Repression Continues as Attention Fades: For ABC Australia, Human Rights Watch researcher Yalkun Uluyol warns that Uyghurs continue to face arbitrary detention, surveillance, and forced labor, despite global attention shifting as many governments sideline human rights concerns in favor of political and economic interests.

⛓️Repression Has Evolved, Not Ended: In Foreign Policy, Adrian Zenz highlights rare insider testimony from police officer Zhang Yabo, describing how authorities in the Uyghur Region have shifted from mass internment to more concealed and embedded systems of short-term detention, pervasive surveillance, coercive labor transfers, and ongoing cultural erasure.

🔎 Read the full Uyghur Reader:

The Uyghur Reader: Stories We’re Following (Issue 22) - Uyghur Human Rights Project Issue 22: April 16, 2026 – April 29, 2026  Welcome to the twenty-second issue of the Uyghur Reader, a biweekly content roundup curated by the staff of the Uyghur Human Rights Project. Each issue features carefully selected articles, reports, and publications from media outlets, academic instituti...