The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on world leaders to take concrete action to counter the Chinese government’s escalating campaign of transnational repression targeting Uyghur Muslims living abroad.

A new report, “Preventing Transnational Repression – the case of the Uyghur diaspora,” states in part:

“Civil society organisations (CSOs) that document rights abuses and breaches of international law, including transnational repression, are key targets for harassment by authoritarian states, with China’s party-state driving the global growth in transnational repression. China’s repression of the Uyghur and Kazakh diasporas are key facets of its domestic ‘ethnic policy’ in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and its ‘soft power’ drives outside China that present authoritarianism as a benevolent alternative to democracy.”

SEE: Preventing Transnational Repression – The Case of the Uyghur Diaspora

In a statement, CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw said:

“The Chinese government’s campaign of transnational repression must be met with unified and resolute international condemnation. No government should be allowed to extend its authoritarian reach beyond its borders to silence dissent and instill fear within diaspora communities. Silence or inaction in the face of transnational repression only emboldens authoritarian regimes to act with impunity. The international community must act now.”

In June, CAIR welcomed a letter by Senators Pete Ricketts, Jeff Merkley, John Curtis, and Chris Coons calling for action against the Chinese government’s use of Uyghur forced labor. 

CAIR has previously called for action against the enslavement of Uyghurs by the Chinese government. 

SEE: CAIR Calls for Action After Report Reveals Dozens of Western Companies Connected with Uyghur Slave Labor

CAIR Welcomes DHS Banning 2 Chinese Companies Over Uyghur Slave Labor

CAIR Calls on President Biden to Endorse Uyghur Slave Labor Bill Following Press Secretary Psaki Being Unsure of Administration Support 

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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]