Uyghur Muslims in North America

The Uyghurs are a Turkic people with ancient roots who settled in oasis towns primarily in the Tarim Basin of northwest China. They have traditionally been agriculturalists, shepherds, craftsmen, and merchants. After a wave of emigration starting in the 1980s, Uyghurs in North America have established themselves in the middle class and are one of the most educated immigrant groups.

More recently, Uyghurs have arrived as refugees and asylum seekers fleeing persecution from China, whose government has continued to wage a systematic campaign to break up Uyghur families and erase their way of life. Many with limited English language skills have taken up lower-income jobs in the service industry.

Up to 10,000 Uyghurs or more live in the United States, concentrated in the Washington DC metropolitan area and New York City, with smaller populations in Boston, Texas, and the West Coast. Around two thousand live in Canada, and the government has agreed to take on an additional 10,000 Uyghur refugees in the coming years.

Uyghurs in North America live under the long arm of Chinese surveillance and transnational repression. Traveling to other countries outside of the West is risky. Family members in China are leveraged to silence voices, and the few who have spoken out have paid a heavy price. The Uyghur diaspora is coping with profound survivor’s guilt and sorrow and grief at not knowing where their family members are. The Uyghur community is hoping for friends with moral clarity who can speak truth to power on their behalf. Newly arrived Uyghurs who have survived internment and torture in China need support and friends to walk with them on their journey to healing.