Nairobi, Kenya, June 2025
An Uyghur delegation consisted of Executive Director Abdulhakim Idris and Uyghur activists from World Uyghur Congress and Campaign for Uyghurs participated in the “Africa Together: A Continental Call to Religious Freedom” conference, held from June 16 to June 18, 2025, in Nairobi, Kenya. Organized as the first regional edition of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit, the event brought together diplomats, religious leaders, scholars, and human rights advocates from across Africa to discuss the state of religious freedom in Africa.
During the summit, the delegation engaged with diplomats, religious leaders, experts, researchers, and students from across Africa. Many participants, particularly religious leaders and Imams from Tanzania, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Sudan, expressed that they had little or no prior knowledge of the Uyghur people’s plight.
Also, the delegation distributed educational materials, including books and reports, to attendees from various countries to help bridge this information gap. These materials provided detailed insights into the Chinese government’s genocide and systematic repression of the Uyghurs, including restrictions on religious freedom, mass internment camps, and cultural erasure.
In addition to raising awareness, the delegation met with religious leaders, experts, and civil society representatives to discuss future collaboration. Many expressed a strong desire to work together to raise awareness about the Uyghur crisis across Africa.
The Uyghur delegation emphasized that building partnerships with African religious and community leaders is essential to amplifying the voices of oppressed Uyghurs and countering Chinese disinformation.
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