Uyghur News Recap: April 8–21, 2023

The Uyghur Human Rights Project recently published a report highlighting the plight of Uyghur asylum seekers in the U.S. who have fled persecution in Xinjiang. Four experts testified and called on Congress to strengthen the implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which aims to stop U.S. imports of items produced by forced labor in China, including in Xinjiang. US, UK diplomats demand release of Uyghur businessman. U.S. and U.K. diplomats have joined forces to demand the release of Uyghur businessman Ekpar Asat, who has been detained in China since April 2016 after a trip to the U.S. and sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of "Inciting ethnic hatred and ethnic discrimination." According to a report by Radio Free Asia, Muslims in Xinjiang have been banned from fasting, and authorities are using spies known as "Ears" to monitor and ensure that Uyghur Muslims are not fasting. Last week, during a discussion held by the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project, authors of a new report presented details on China's transnational repression of the Uyghur diaspora in Britain, Turkey and Thailand. According to David Tobin, a lecturer in East Asian Studies at the University of Sheffield, and Nyrola Elimä, an independent researcher, Uyghurs were offered information about their detained family members in exchange for conducting surveillance on Uyghur diaspora activists.