Statement – For immediate Release
World Uyghur Congress, 21 July 2026
We, the undersigned Uyghur diaspora and civil society organisations, condemn in the strongest terms the Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress (“the Ethnic Unity Law”), which entered into force on 1 July 2026.
This law is not a technical administrative measure. It is a legislative instrument of forced assimilation, one that explicitly conflates the Chinese nation with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and demands that ethnic groups abandon their distinct identities in favour of loyalty to the Party, the Han-defined “motherland,” and “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.” Under this framework, Uyghur, Tibetan, Mongolian, and other non-Han identities are permitted to exist only insofar as they are absorbed into a single, Party-defined Chinese nation.
The law’s reach is sweeping. It entrenches Mandarin as the language of education, displacing Uyghur, Tibetan, and Southern Mongolian languages from the classroom and public life. It mandates the “sinicisation” of religion, subordinating faith to Party ideology. It instructs parents and teachers to raise children in loyalty to the CCP rather than to their own culture, religion, or language. These are not incidental effects; they are the law’s stated purpose, and they build directly on policies that have already devastated our communities — mass internment, cultural and religious destruction, and the forced separation of children from their families.
We are especially alarmed by Article 63, which asserts that individuals and organisations outside mainland China who “undermine ethnic unity and progress” may be held legally responsible under Chinese law. This is a direct assertion of extraterritorial jurisdiction over people engaged in speech and activity that is entirely lawful in the countries where they live. It formalises, in statute, a policy of transnational repression against Uyghurs, Tibetans, Mongolians, and Chinese dissidents in exile — and it is not a threat confined to diaspora communities alone. Any state that allows this provision to stand unanswered accepts, in effect, that Beijing’s jurisdiction extends into its own territory, over its own residents and citizens. That is a direct challenge to state sovereignty and to the rule of law itself.
The international response so far confirms the gravity of this threat. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council, on 15 June 2026, that the law risks “deepening restrictions on freedoms of language, education, practice of religion, culture, expression and assembly” and called for it to be repealed. On 30 April 2026, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the law, warning that it would intensify the systematic suppression of ethnic identities and further strain EU-China relations. These are welcome and necessary interventions. But statements of concern are not, by themselves, protection. They must now be followed by action.
We therefore urge:
- UN human rights experts and mechanisms — including the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of religion or belief, and the situation of human rights defenders, on minority issues, as well as CERD and other relevant treaty bodies — to formally monitor and report on the implementation and extraterritorial application of the Ethnic Unity Law, and to press Beijing to repeal it;
- Governments to publicly condemn the law, raise it directly in bilateral and multilateral engagement with Beijing, and put in place concrete protections against its extraterritorial enforcement for Uyghur, Tibetan, and Mongolian communities and other diaspora members residing in their jurisdictions;
- Parliaments and lawmakers to introduce and adopt urgent resolutions condemning the law, and to consider targeted measures against officials and entities responsible for drafting, implementing, and enforcing it;
- Civil society organisations worldwide stand in solidarity with Uyghur, Tibetan, and Southern Mongolian communities, to document and publicise cases of transnational repression connected to this law, and to support those most exposed to its reach.
We call on the international community to take meaningful action to repeal the Ethnic Unity & Progress Law.
Signed,
World Uyghur Congress on behalf of the following organisations:
- Alberta Uyghur Association
- Australian Uyghur Association
- Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Association
- Austria Uyghur Association
- Belgium Uyghur Association
- Campaign for Uyghurs
- Center for Uyghur Studies
- East Turkistan Information Center
- East Turkistan Association of Canada
- East Turkistan Foundation
- East Turkistan Youth Union
- Eurasian Uyghur Academy
- Finland Uyghur Association
- Ili Meshrep Development and Service Foundation
- International Uyghur Writers Association
- Irish Uyghur Cultural Association
- Isa Yusuf Alptekin Foundation
- Japan Uyghur Association
- Kazakhstan Uyghur National Association
- Kutatgu Bilig Insitute
- Kyrgyzstan Uyghur Association “Ittipaq”
- Norwegian Uyghur Committee
- PEN Uyghur
- Research and Education Institute
- Stop Uyghur Genocide
- Stop Uyghur Genocide Australia
- Swedish Uyghur Union
- Swiss Uyghur Association
- Teklimakan Uyghur Publication Center
- The Muslim Scholars Union of East Turkistan
- UK Uyghur Community
- Umer Uyghur Trust Pakistan
- Uyghur Academy Australia
- Uyghur Academy International
- Uyghur Association of Texas
- Uyghur Academy Turkiye
- Uyghur American Association
- Uyghur Association of Victoria
- Uyghur Cultural and Educational Union in Germany
- Uyghur Cultural Center in Frankfurt
- Uyghur Cultural Center in Kazakhstan
- Uyghur Cultural Center of Uzbekistan
- Uyghur Center for Democracy and Human Rights
- Uyghur Human Rights Project
- Uyghur Projects Foundation
- Uyghur Research Center
- Uyghur Research Foundation
- Uyghur Research Institute
- Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project
- Uyghur Youth Initiative
- Uyghur Youth Union of Kazakhstan
- World Uyghur Congress Foundation
