WASHINGTON - Twelve U.S. House representatives have introduced a bipartisan bill that would expedite the ability of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities facing persecution in China to seek asylum in the United States.
The Uyghur Human Rights Protection Act would lend further American support to the 12 million Uyghurs in the northwestern Xinjiang region who are suffering under what Washington has labeled a “genocide."
“The brutal persecution of Uyghurs by the Chinese government is a human rights crisis,” said Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill who represents the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, home to one of the largest Uyghur diaspora populations in the United States. The bill was introduced on Tuesday.
“I have personally heard from Uyghur constituents in my district about their deep concerns for their relatives attempting to flee atrocities,” he said. “I’m proud to lead this bipartisan initiative to provide those enduring unthinkable oppression with a pathway to expedited refugee status and asylum.”
Since 2017, China has rounded up an estimated 1.8 million Uyghurs in concentration camps and subjected many to forced labor, forced sterilization and torture, based on the accounts of Uyghurs who have escaped and investigations by the United Nations.
Beijing denies committing human rights abuses against the Uyghurs and says the camps are vocational training centers that have mostly been closed.
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Florida Republican who also sponsored the bill, called the Uyghur genocide “one of the most horrific crimes against humanity we have ever witnessed.”
“Our refugee system is designed to provide protection to those who need it most,” she said. “We should prioritize those that are able to escape the systematic persecution and torture Uyghurs and other oppressed minorities are suffering from in Xinjiang.”
Higher priority
The legislation would give a higher priority designation -- called Priority 2, for refugees of special humanitarian concern -- to Uyghurs seeking asylum in the United States so that their cases might be handled more quickly.
The bill also seeks to protect Uyghurs who have fled to countries besides the United States by directing the U.S. secretary of state to prioritize diplomatic efforts in those countries, which often face pressure from Beijing to deport Uyghurs to China.
Last month, Thailand deported 40 Uyghurs, who had been in an immigration detention center for a decade, to China, where activists say it is likely they will face punishment and imprisonment.
The United States has taken various steps to punish China for its treatment of the Uyghurs.
Under the 2021 Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the United States has banned a total of 144 Chinese companies suspected of using Uyghur slave labor from exporting to America.
A third sponsor, Rep. Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat and a ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said, “the U.S. has a responsibility to help Uyghurs seeking to escape these atrocities by expanding refugee pathways and resolving the backlog in Uyghur asylum cases.”
The bill has to overcome many legislative hurdles before it becomes law. Despite the bipartisan backing, its hopes of passage remain uncertain. The current U.S. administration is looking to scale back immigration to the United States and suspended the refugee admissions program on its first day in office.
Edited by Malcolm Foster.