I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2635 
To support the human rights of Uyghurs and members of other minority 
groups residing primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 
and safeguard their distinct identity, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 3, 2025 
Mrs. KIM (for herself, Mr. BERA, and Mr. MEEKS) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To support the human rights of Uyghurs and members of 
other minority groups residing primarily in the Xinjiang 
Uyghur Autonomous Region and safeguard their distinct 
identity, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Uyghur Policy Act of 
2025’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The People’s Republic of China (PRC) con-
tinues to repress the distinct Islamic, Turkic identity 
of Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and reli-
gious minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Au-
tonomous Region (XUAR) in northwestern China 
and other areas of their habitual residence. 
(2) Uyghurs, and other predominantly Muslim 
ethnic minorities historically making up the majority 
of the XUAR population, have maintained through-
out their history a distinct religious and cultural 
identity. 
(3) Human rights, including freedom of religion 
or belief, and respect for the Uyghurs’ unique Mus-
lim identity are legitimate interests of the inter-
national community. 
(4) The PRC has ratified the International 
Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, 
and is thereby bound by its provisions. The PRC has 
also signed the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights. 
(5) An official campaign to encourage Han Chi-
nese migration into the XUAR has placed immense 
pressure on those who seek to preserve the ethnic, 
cultural, religious, and linguistic traditions of the 
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Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority 
groups. 
(6) PRC authorities have supported an influx of 
Han Chinese economic immigrants into the XUAR, 
implemented discrimination against Uyghurs and 
other minorities in hiring practices, and provided un-
equal access to healthcare services. 
(7) PRC authorities have manipulated the stra-
tegic objectives of the international war on terror to 
mask their increasing cultural and religious oppres-
sion of the Muslim population residing in the 
XUAR. 
(8) Following unrest in the region, in 2014, 
Chinese authorities launched their ‘‘Strike Hard 
against Violent Extremism’’ campaign, in which du-
bious allegations of widespread extremist activity 
were used as justification for gross human rights 
violations committed against Uyghurs and members 
of other minority communities in the XUAR. 
(9) PRC authorities have made use of the legal 
system as a tool of repression, including for the im-
position of arbitrary detentions and for torture 
against members of the Uyghur community and 
other minority populations. 
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(10) Uyghurs and Kazakhs who have secured 
citizenship or permanent residency outside of the 
PRC have attested to repeated threats, harassment, 
and surveillance by PRC officials. 
(11) Reporting from international news organi-
zations has found that over the past decade, family 
members of Uyghurs and other minority groups liv-
ing outside of the PRC have gone missing or been 
detained to force Uyghur expatriates to return to 
the PRC or silence their dissent. 
(12) In 2017, Radio Free Asia’s Uyghur Serv-
ice was the first media organization to report on the 
PRC’s vast, mass arbitrary-detention program in the 
XUAR in 2017. 
(13) Credible evidence from human rights orga-
nizations, think tanks, and journalists confirms that 
more than 1,000,000 Uyghurs and members of other 
ethnic minority groups have been imprisoned in 
extrajudicial ‘‘political reeducation’’ centers. 
(14) Independent accounts from former detain-
ees of ‘‘political reeducation’’ centers describe inhu-
mane conditions and treatment including forced po-
litical indoctrination, torture, beatings, rape, forced 
sterilization, and food deprivation. 
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(15) Former detainees also confirmed that they 
were told by guards that the only way to secure re-
lease was to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty 
to the PRC Government. 
(16) Popular discourse surrounding the ongoing 
atrocities in the XUAR and advocacy efforts to as-
sist Uyghurs remains muted in most Muslim major-
ity nations around the world. 
(17) Former Secretary of States Antony 
Blinken and Michael Pompeo and Secretary of State 
Marco Rubio confirmed that the PRC Government 
has committed genocide and crimes against human-
ity against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious 
minorities in the XUAR. 
(18) Government bodies of multiple nations 
have also declared that PRC Government’s atrocities 
against such populations in the XUAR constitute 
genocide, including the parliaments of the United 
Kingdom, Belgium, Czechia, Lithuania, the Nether-
lands, and Canada. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the Sense of Congress that— 
(1) the Government of the People’s Republic of 
China should immediately open the Xinjiang Uyghur 
Autonomous Region (XUAR) to regular, trans-
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parent, and unmanipulated visits by members of the 
press, international organizations including the Of-
fice of the United Nations High Commissioner for 
Human Rights, academic and human rights research 
institutions, as well as foreign delegations including 
from the United States Congress; 
(2) the Government of the People’s Republic of 
China should recognize, and take tangible steps to 
protect and preserve, the distinct ethnic, cultural, re-
ligious, and linguistic identity of Uyghurs and mem-
bers of other ethnic and religious minority groups in 
the XUAR; 
(3) the Government of the People’s Republic of 
China should cease all government-sponsored crack-
downs, imprisonments, and detentions of people 
throughout the XUAR aimed at repressing their eth-
nic, cultural, political, or religious identities; 
(4) the Government of the People’s Republic of 
China 
should 
cease 
all 
government-sponsored 
transnational repression of Uyghurs, including the 
detainment, harassment, intimidation, and surveil-
lance of the family members of exiled Uyghurs and 
Uyghur activists; 
(5) it is commendable for countries to provide 
shelter and hospitality to Uyghurs and other minor-
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ity group members in exile, as Turkey, Albania, and 
Germany have done; 
(6) urges all countries, especially fellow democ-
racies and those with sizeable Muslim populations, 
to condemn and address the plight of Uyghurs and 
other minority communities in the XUAR; 
(7) the Government of the People’s Republic of 
China should immediately and unconditionally re-
lease all prisoners that have been detained for their 
ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic identities, 
for expressing their political or religious beliefs in 
the XUAR, or for being related to members of the 
Uyghur diaspora or activist community including— 
(A) Ekper Asat, who participated in the 
Department of State’s International Visitors 
Leadership Program in 2016, was incarcerated 
after returning to the XUAR, and is now serv-
ing a 15 year prison sentence on charges of ‘‘in-
citing ethnic hatred and ethnic discrimination’’; 
(B) Dr. Gulshan Abbas, a retired medical 
doctor and Uyghur, who was wrongfully de-
tained in the XUAR on September 11, 2018, 
and unjustly sentenced to 20 years in prison in 
retaliation for her sister’s advocacy for Uyghur 
human rights issues; and 
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(C) Kamile Wayit, a university student 
and Uyghur, who was wrongfully detained on 
December 12, 2022, after returning to the 
XUAR while on break from studying during the 
winter holiday; 
(8) the Government of the People’s Republic of 
China should facilitate access for international hu-
manitarian 
organizations, 
including 
the 
Inter-
national Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent 
Societies, to the ‘‘political reeducation’’ centers in 
the XUAR to ensure prisoners are not being mis-
treated and are receiving necessary medical care; 
and 
(9) the Department of State should continue to 
facilitate the unhindered dissemination of informa-
tion to the international community on issues re-
garding the human rights, religious freedom, and 
transnational repression of Uyghurs and members of 
other minority groups in the XUAR. 
SEC. 4. UNITED STATES STRENGTHENING OF COORDINA-
TION ON UYGHUR ISSUES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, as appro-
priate, shall— 
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(1) prioritize policies, programs, and projects to 
support the Uyghurs and members of other ethnic 
and religious minority groups in the XUAR; 
(2) vigorously promote the policy of seeking to 
protect the distinct ethnic, religious, cultural, and 
linguistic identity of the Uyghurs and other minority 
groups and seek improved protection of human 
rights in the XUAR; 
(3) direct the State Department to maintain 
close contact with Uyghur religious, cultural, and 
political leaders, including seeking regular travel to 
the XUAR and to Uyghur populations in Central 
Asia, Turkey, Albania, Germany, and other parts of 
Europe; 
(4) lead coordination efforts for the release of 
political prisoners in the XUAR who are being de-
tained for exercising their human rights or being rel-
atives of exiled Uyghurs; 
(5) consult with the United States Congress on 
policies relevant to the XUAR and the Uyghurs; 
(6) coordinate with relevant Federal agencies to 
administer aid to Uyghur rights advocates; 
(7) make efforts to establish contacts with for-
eign ministries of other countries, especially in Eu-
rope, Central Asia, and members of the Organisation 
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of Islamic Cooperation, to pursue a policy of pro-
moting greater respect for human rights and reli-
gious freedom for Uyghurs and other ethnic and re-
ligious minority groups from the XUAR; 
(8) utilize the Organisation of Islamic Coopera-
tion and United States Strategic Dialogue to ad-
dress Uyghur rights, working with the Organisation 
of Islamic Cooperation individual member states to 
develop and implement joint initiatives and pro-
grams aimed at promoting awareness of Uyghur 
rights, and support Uyghur victims of detainment, 
harassment, and transnational repression; 
(9) support independent media authorized 
under PL 111/202 22 U.S.C. 6208 of the 111th 
Congress that conduct reporting and investigative 
journalism focused on the XUAR, including in local 
languages, to ensure that further PRC human rights 
abuses are reported on; 
(10) work with international partners to raise 
awareness concerning acts of transnational repres-
sion against Uyghur Americans or Uyghurs exiled in 
the United States; 
(11) develop and implement strategies to pre-
vent and respond to the transnational repression of 
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Uyghur Americans and Uyghurs exiled in the United 
States; 
(12) establish a reporting mechanism for indi-
viduals to report incidents of transnational repres-
sion; and 
(13) submit an annual report, including a clas-
sified annex if necessary, to Congress on actions 
taken by the United States to address and prevent 
transnational repression against Uyghurs in the 
United States, and recommendations for further leg-
islative or policy measures. 
(b) SUPPORT.—The Secretary of State shall ensure 
the Department of State has adequate resources, staff, 
and administrative support to carry out this section. 
(c) TERMINATION.—This section shall terminate on 
the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
SEC. 5. FUNDING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES TO CON-
DUCT PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE ISLAMIC 
WORLD ON THE UYGHUR SITUATION. 
Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated for the 
United States Speaker Program of the Bureau of Edu-
cational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State, 
$250,000 for each of fiscal years 2025, 2026, and 2027 
is authorized to be made available to support human 
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rights advocates working on behalf of the Uyghurs and 
members of other ethnic and religious minority groups 
from the XUAR that are persecuted in the PRC, whose 
names may be provided by the Department of State in 
consultation with representatives of the global Uyghur 
community, to speak at global public diplomacy forums, 
particularly those in which Organisation of Islamic Co-
operation countries and other Muslim-majority countries 
are present, on issues regarding the human rights and reli-
gious freedom of Uyghurs and members of other ethnic 
and religious minority groups persecuted in the PRC. 
SEC. 6. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 
No additional funds are authorized to carry out the 
requirements of this Act. Such requirements shall be car-
ried out using amounts otherwise authorized. 
SEC. 7. ACCESS TO DETENTION FACILITIES AND PRISONS 
AND THE RELEASE OF PRISONERS. 
(a) STRATEGY
ON POLITICAL REEDUCATION
AND 
DETENTION FACILITIES.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
State, in consultation with the heads of other relevant 
Federal departments and agencies, develop a strategy to 
cooperate with like-minded partners to pressure the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China to— 
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(1) close all detention facilities and ‘‘political 
reeducation’’ camps housing Uyghurs and members 
of other ethnic minority groups in the XUAR; 
(2) allow unhindered access to detention facili-
ties and ‘‘political reeducation’’ camps in the XUAR 
by independent media, researchers, international or-
ganizations and the Office of the United Nations 
High Commissioner for Human Rights for a com-
prehensive assessment of the human rights situation; 
and 
(3) protect human rights and preserve the dis-
tinct religious and cultural identity of the Uyghurs 
and the other religious and ethnic minority commu-
nities in the XUAR. 
(b) REPORT ON STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION.— 
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 
a report, including a classified annex if necessary, that in-
cludes— 
(1) the strategy developed pursuant to sub-
section (a); and 
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(2) all the steps taken to implement such strat-
egy pursuant to the objectives described in sub-
section (a). 
SEC. 8. REQUIREMENT FOR UYGHUR LANGUAGE TRAINING. 
(a) UYGHUR LANGUAGE TRAINING AND STAFFING.— 
The Secretary of State shall take such steps as may be 
necessary to ensure that— 
(1) Uyghur language training is available to 
Foreign Service officers as appropriate; and 
(2) every effort is made to ensure that at least 
1 Uyghur-speaking member of the Foreign Service 
(as such term is defined by section 103 of the For-
eign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3903)) is as-
signed to each United States diplomatic or consular 
post in China. 
(b) REPORT.—No later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 
2 years, the Foreign Service Institute shall submit to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa-
tives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen-
ate a report that outlines all the steps taken to implement 
subsection (a). 
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SEC. 9. UYGHUR CONSIDERATIONS AT THE UNITED NA-
TIONS. 
The President should direct the United States Per-
manent Representative to the United Nations to use the 
voice, vote, and influence of the United States to— 
(1) oppose any efforts to prevent consideration 
of the gross violation of internationally recognized 
human rights in the XUAR in any body of the 
United Nations; 
(2) oppose any efforts to prevent the participa-
tion of any Uyghur human rights advocates in non-
governmental fora hosted by or otherwise organized 
under the auspices of any body of the United Na-
tions; and 
(3) support the appointment of a special 
rapporteur or working group for the XUAR for the 
purposes of monitoring human rights violations and 
abuses in the XUAR, and for making reports avail-
able to the High Commissioner for Refugees, the 
High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human 
Rights Commission, the General Assembly, and 
other United Nations bodies. 
Æ 
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