“I heard that one of my brothers, one sister, and 12 children of my siblings are in prison and detention.”

December 2020. Uyghurs in the diaspora are at the forefront of raising international awareness of the human rights crisis in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). We know that speaking out requires courage and exacts a heavy mental toll.

To better understand the situation, The Rights Practice recently surveyed Uyghurs living in the UK. Our survey revealed a community desperate for information about relatives in Xinjiang. Many had learnt that family members were in detention; specific information, however, was hard to come by as people were fearful of the repercussions from contacting them.

The survey was intended to shed light on three broad questions: how safe did Uyghurs feel in the UK; what information did they have about the situation in Xinjiang; and what would they like to see the British government do.

Read the full survey report here.