Nury Turkel: Beijing creates a false image that Uyghurs are “finally free” through forced labor programs

On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives unanimously passed the “Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act,” allowing Washington to have more legal tools to put pressure on Beijing regarding the ongoing oppression of the Uyghurs. I talked to Nury Turkel, who has recently been appointed to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, about the prospect of the law and recent developments regarding the oppression of Uyghurs.

Questions: How do you think the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act can help ease the oppression that millions of Uyghurs are experiencing?

Nury Turkel: This bill would provide a much needed hope to the Uyghurs, including myself. It gives the US government more tools to put pressure on Beijing regarding the ongoing oppression of Uyghurs. I hope this will not be the first one that the US Congress will consider.

I testified in Congress and made a number of recommendations that were included into the actual bill. Professionally and personally, this has been an important matter for me and I feel grateful in my official capacity that this is getting to the finish line pretty soon.

Question: China has continued to put millions of Uyghurs under tight surveillance and recent reports suggest hundreds of thousands of them have been transferred into forced labor programs within China. What are the latest developments that you have gathered from Xinjiang?

Nury Turkel: Since the coronavirus outbreak, we have been unable to obtain any firsthand information. We have been reading about a large number of Uyghur youth and detainees of the re-education camps being transferred to China’s inland assembly lines to work in factories. This worries me.

It shows that the Chinese government is trying to transfer Uyghurs from the re-education camps to show the world that they are “releasing” people. They are also trying to solve the problem of labor shortage at coastal industrial hubs. Uyghurs transferred to these factories are put under tight surveillance through AI and other advanced technologies. They are essentially used as slave laborers.

One of the things that the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act addresses is forced labor. This is one of the most important things that everyone should pay attention to. China’s re-education camps in Xinjiang have used collective punishment to shock the world’s conscience. What the general public has not figured out is that slavery is back in China and the global supply chain has been polluted.

The global economic environment has been polluted and more than 80% of the cotton products produced in China are sourced from forced labor in Xinjiang. The forced labor situation is nothing new in the way that China controls the Uyghurs, but letting it become part of the international supply chain is disturbing to say the least.

Question: Several recent cases show family members of overseas Uyghurs being used as a way for the Chinese government to discredit their claims and activism. Do you see this move as a new threat to overseas activism?

Nury Turkel: This shows how insecure and weak the Chinese government is. If you are forcing a vulnerable and defenseless individual to record a confession against their family members in front of a camera, that shows how insecure any government or individual can be.

It also shows their desperate efforts to cover up their wrongdoings. If they did nothing wrong, why would they force Uyghurs in Xinjiang to condemn their overseas family members? What these overseas Uyghurs have been doing are admirable work, and we should praise them and defend them. They are doing the right thing to speak up for their loved ones.

Question: What else do you think other governments can do to help put pressure on Beijing for their ongoing oppression of the Uyghurs?

Nury Turkel: Words are nice but actions are better. We welcome the comments and public statements made by several democratic nations, including Australia, Canada and the UK. But it will be useful to see them pass relevant legislation and executive decisions like the ones enacted by the US.

In fact, the US Congress is considering some additional bills to address export control and forced labor issues related to Uyghurs’ persecution. Several western countries including Canada and the UK have the Magnitsky Act, which is a legal tool that allows governments to impose sanctions on China. If legislating a bill is challenging for them, these countries should at least utilize the existing legal tools.

I think these countries should also feel their sovereignty is under the threat from China. If a foreign government made a direct or indirect threat against your citizens, that should give you a pause in your relationship with the government. That should give you a reason to speak up publicly.

I call on governments around the world, especially those with similar laws now, to provide some legal protection for their Uyghur citizens. These are not difficult things for any government to do. I also call on democratic nations to use international entities like the UN to create a coalition effort.

Question: What are some of the pressing issues that you hope to address when it comes to the ongoing persecution of the Uyghurs?

Nury Turkel: I think the world should know that the Chinese government is using the Uyghurs ethnic identity and religious practices as a target. Uyghurs being Muslim and Uyghurs has been perceived as a sign of disloyalty by the Chinese government.

I hope to use public diplomacy to get countries around the world, particularly Muslim majority countries, to come out and defend their own religion, especially when the Chinese government is calling Islam a mental illness or thought viruses. That should be taken as an insult on their religion. I want more governments to take similar positions in defending religious freedom around the world.

The interview is published in Mandarin on DW’s Chinese website.