Uyghur Americans

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Uyghur Americans

Uyghur American Erkin Sidick, a NASA engineer and a member of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Total population
8,905 (per U.S. Census Bureau- 2015)[1] 10,000-15,000 per East Turkistan Government in Exile estimate 2021[2]
Regions with significant populations
Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco
Languages
Uyghur · American English · Mandarin Chinese
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Uyghurs

Uyghur Americans are Americans of Uyghur ethnicity. Most Uyghurs immigrated from Xinjiang, China, to the United States from the late 1980s onwards, with a significant number arriving after July 2009.

History[]

Uyghurs' history in the United States dates back to the 1960s with the arrival of a small number of immigrants. In the late 20th century, after a series of Xinjiang conflicts, thousands of Uyghurs fled from their homeland of Xinjiang ( China ) to Kazakhstan, Turkey, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries and places. A 2010 estimate put the Uyghur population in the United States at one thousand, however, the Uyghur American Association has said that more have moved to the United States in the 2010s because of the crackdown in China in July 2009. Several thousand Uyghurs are said to be living in the Washington, D.C. area, which has the largest population of Uyghurs in the United States. There are also small populations of Uyghurs in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Houston.^[3]

As for 2019, the Chinese government was reported to routinely carry out harassment and abuse of Uyghurs in the United States in an attempt to control the speech and actions of the estimated 8,905^[4]-15,000^[5]persons of Uyghur ethnicity living in the United States.^[6] Section 8 of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 requires a report on "efforts to protect United States citizens and residents, including ethnic Uyghurs and Chinese nationals legally studying or working temporarily in the United States, who have experienced harassment or intimidation within the United States by officials or agents of the Government of the People’s Republic of China" to be produced within 90 days.

Organizations[]

As with other ethnic groups in the United States, Uyghur Americans also have several organizations. The most well-known organizations are Uyghur American Association,^[7] a Washington D.C. based advocacy organization which was established in 1998 by a group of Uyghur overseas activists to raise the public awareness of the Uyghur people, the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement, a youth led organization which was set up by Uyghur graduate student Salih Hudayar in 2017^[8] and East Turkistan Government in Exile, which was set up by Uyghur activist Anwar Yusuf Turani in 2004.

Notable people[]

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo meets with USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel and Chinese dissidents (July 2020).

• Rushan Abbas, activist and vice president of the Uyghur American Association
• Rayhan Asat, human rights campaigner and lawyer
• Gulchehra Hoja, journalist with Radio Free Asia
• Shohret Hoshur, journalist with Radio Free Asia
• Salih Hudayar, current Prime Minister of the East Turkistan Government-in-Exile
• Elnigar Iltebir, Director for China at the United States National Security Council
• Rebiya Kadeer, former President of the World Uyghur Congress (resident in the US)
• Gulimina Mahamuti, pianist
• Shoukhrat Mitalipov, stem cell researcher
• Maya Mitalipova, work at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT^[9]
• Anwar Yusuf Turani, political activist
• Nury Turkel, commissioner on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
• Mihrigul Tursun, former detainee in the Xinjiang re-education camps

See also[]

• East Turkistan National Awakening Movement
• East Turkistan Government-in-Exile

References[]