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Why Doesn’t the World Care More About the Uyghurs?

How Xinjiang fell by the wayside.

A person wears a light blue mask. A hand in the colors of the Chinese flag is painted over the mouth.
A person wears a light blue mask. A hand in the colors of the Chinese flag is painted over the mouth.
A demonstrator wearing a mask painted with the colors of the East Turkestan flag attends a protest denouncing China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims in front of the Chinese consulate in Istanbul on July 5, 2018. Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images

“One aspect of the Uyghur genocide that has always confounded me is why outrage among the global public has been so muted,” FP’s Amy Mackinnon wrote this week. Despite her hesitancy in broaching this subject with a Uyghur human rights advocate, Mackinnon recently posed this question to Nury Turkel, who is now the chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

“One aspect of the Uyghur genocide that has always confounded me is why outrage among the global public has been so muted,” FP’s Amy Mackinnon wrote this week. Despite her hesitancy in broaching this subject with a Uyghur human rights advocate, Mackinnon recently posed this question to Nury Turkel, who is now the chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Below, you’ll find Turkel’s three possible explanations for the world’s silence, as well as more essays and reporting exploring how—and why—Xinjiang has fallen by the wayside.—Chloe Hadavas


An illustration of Nury Turkel, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
An illustration of Nury Turkel, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

Oriana Fenwick Illustration for Foreign Policy

The Witness

Why is global outrage about the Uyghur genocide muted? Human rights advocate Nury Turkel has some ideas, FP’s Amy Mackinnon writes.


Uyghur men dance outside the Id Kah mosque in Kashgar, Xinjiang, where authorities have created a parallel universe for tourists and locals.
Uyghur men dance outside the Id Kah mosque in Kashgar, Xinjiang, where authorities have created a parallel universe for tourists and locals.

Uyghur men dance outside the Id Kah mosque in Kashgar, Xinjiang, where authorities have created a parallel universe for tourists and locals, on June 5, 2019. Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

UNESCO Made Ukraine a Priority, but Xinjiang Fell by the Wayside

Some cultures are protected more than others, FP’s Liam Scott reports.


A long-delayed report on human rights in China
A long-delayed report on human rights in China

Early on Sept. 1, a computer screen shows a long-delayed report on human rights in China’s Xinjiang region, released just minutes before U.N. rights chief Michelle Bachelet left her post. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

The United Nations Is Scared of Calling Out China’s Genocide

A long-delayed report on Xinjiang was an important step forward, but it has critical omissions, FP’s Azeem Ibrahim writes.


Protesters chant slogans and hold up flags in support of China’s Uyghur minority in Istanbul, on July 12, 2009.
Protesters chant slogans and hold up flags in support of China’s Uyghur minority in Istanbul, on July 12, 2009.

Protesters chant slogans and hold up flags in support of China’s Uyghur minority in Istanbul, on July 12, 2009.BULENT KILIC/AFP via Getty Images

Why Erdogan Has Abandoned the Uyghurs

As Ankara grows more economically dependent on Beijing, the Turkish government is no longer offering a safe haven or defending Uyghur rights, Kuzzat Altay writes.


A Uyghur man in Medina, Saudi Arabia, in 2019 holds his expired Chinese passport (red) and a one-way travel document (blue) issued in its place by the Chinese mission in Saudi Arabia.
A Uyghur man in Medina, Saudi Arabia, in 2019 holds his expired Chinese passport (red) and a one-way travel document (blue) issued in its place by the Chinese mission in Saudi Arabia.

A Uyghur man in Medina, Saudi Arabia, in 2019 holds his expired Chinese passport (red) and a one-way travel document (blue) issued in its place by the Chinese mission in Saudi Arabia.AFP via Getty Images

China’s Transnational Repression Gets Saudi Backing

Deporting Uyghur refugees is inhumane and illegal, Rayhan Asat writes.

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