Local Residents in Danger of Starving in East Turkistan

Uyghur Residents in Danger

February 26, 2020 | 9:00 a.m. EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact: Omer Kanat +1 (202) 819-0598, Peter Irwin +1 (646) 906-7722

The Uyghur Human Rights Project is deeply concerned by alarming new evidence that local residents are starving across the Uyghur homeland, and has released a new briefing assessing the situation.

Since mid-February, Uyghur-language social media has lit up with disturbing videos, photos, and other information providing evidence that a month-long coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown is leaving many East Turkistan residents hungry.

Local authorities began placing various parts of the region on lockdown around January 24, after the discovery of at least two cases of COVID-19 in Ürümchi, the economic and political center of the Uyghur Region. Credible news reporting has suggested that residents across the region were given no notice of the quarantine before authorities suddenly ordered them to stay inside their homes. Harshly enforced restrictions have made it nearly impossible for residents to procure food, as well as medicine and other supplies.

This briefing includes analysis of videos posted on social media; they can be viewed below.

Read the entire briefing here.