CFU PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 13, 1:00 PM ET

Sabrina Sohail: [email protected] 

(650) 703-4523

https://www.campaignforuyghurs.org

As we approach Mother’s Day, Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) would like to extend warm wishes to all mothers around the world. At the same time, we would like to draw attention to the struggles faced by Uyghur women and children in East Turkistan under the Chinese government’s ongoing genocide.

Reports from Dr. Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), reveal that Uyghur women are being subjected to forced sterilizations and abortions, leading to a staggering 50 percent decline in the Uyghur birth rate in some regions. The Chinese Embassy in the United States even celebrated these atrocities, proudly announcing that their genocidal actions have ensured that Uyghur women were “no longer baby-making machines.” Millions of Uyghur mothers, such as Dr. Gulshan Abbas, and Dr. Rahile Dawut continue to languish in China’s concentration camps, enduring unthinkable atrocities. Uyghur women face torture, rape, and psychological abuse, while those outside the camps are trafficked for slave labor. These inhumane actions underscore the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) utter disregard for human rights and international law.

Moreover, the CCP’s measures have resulted in the separation of an estimated million children from their parents, who are then sent to state-run orphanages. Instead of being allowed to practice their culture and religion, these children are subjected to harsh discipline and propaganda aimed at indoctrinating them into becoming loyal supporters of the CCP. The shocking extent of the indoctrination and militarization is detailed in a recent article by Bitter Winter, which sheds light on how boys as young as five are being filmed expressing their desire to join the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, even proclaiming their willingness to sacrifice themselves for the CCP. 

“The CCP targets women and children in East Turkistan because they are the future of the Uyghur community. Uyghur women are being denied their fundamental rights to motherhood and child-rearing. For them, Mother’s Day is not a cause for celebration but a reminder of the ongoing oppression they face under the CCP, and a source of immense pain for their children who were either killed or separated from them. This is the fifth Mother’s Day my sister Gulshan Abbas has spent in a Chinese prison unlawfully away from her family due to the CCP’s brutal oppression,” said CFU’s Executive Director Rushan Abbas. “On this day, we must stand in solidarity with Uyghur women and demand that international women’s rights organizations and the United Nations take immediate action to reunite Uyghur families and put an end to the atrocities faced by Uyghur women,” Abbas noted.

Every day, but especially on Mother’s Day, we must remember the plight of Uyghur women and children suffering under China’s campaign to “break their lineage, break their roots, break their connections, and break their origins” – as described by a senior religious official in China in 2017. We cannot overlook the broken families both within and beyond East Turkistan. It is imperative that we ensure their voices are heard and amplified. 

CFU calls on the international community to recognize the suffering of the Uyghurs under the CCP’s brutal violations of human rights on this Mother’s Day and to take tangible actions to defend their rights. CFU also urges the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which reviewed China’s human rights record in Geneva on May 12 during their 85th session, to further pressure the Chinese government to end its atrocities against Uyghur women.