Uyghur Muslims Mark Another Ramadan Under Systematic Religious Repression

Press Release

For Immediate Release

February 18, 2026

Contact@Uyghurstudy.org

Uyghurstudy.org

The Center for Uyghur Studies (CUS) extends its sincere greetings to Muslims around the world as they welcome the holy month of Ramadan. While this sacred month is observed globally through fasting, prayer, and charity, millions of Uyghur Muslims in East Turkistan remain deprived of their fundamental right to practice their faith freely.

For years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has imposed sweeping restrictions on Uyghur religious life, particularly during Ramadan. Historically, government employees, students, and teachers were often prohibited from fasting; restaurants were pressured to remain open during daylight hours. After the mass crackdown that began in 2017, these seasonal restrictions evolved into a total ban on independent religious life. With the expansion of concentration camps, mass imprisonment, and intrusive digital surveillance, even private expressions of faith such as fasting, prayer, or teaching religion to one’s children, became grounds for punishment.

More than eight years after the CCP’s total criminalization of religious practices that began in 2017, these violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) have become normalized. What should be a month of spiritual reflection has instead become a period marked by fear and silence. The erosion of Uyghur religious and cultural identity continues alongside broader policies of forced assimilation, family separation, and transnational repression targeting Uyghurs abroad.

Executive Director Abdulhakim Idris stated, “For Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a month of mercy, faith, and community. For Uyghur Muslims, it has become a symbol of the systematic denial of their most basic religious rights. The international community must not allow this repression to fade into the background of global politics. We urge governments, Muslim-majority countries, and international institutions to take meaningful action to protect the Uyghur people’s right to practice their faith without fear.”