(WASHINGTON, D.C., 8/30/2023) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today joined Uyghur advocates in calling on travel companies to stop selling trips to China’s Xinjiang region, where the Chinese government is conducting a campaign of genocide and mass internment against Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic minority groups.
A report by the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), released today, said western tourism to the region risked supporting the normalization of Chinese government policies that were “intended to destroy the Uyghur identity.”
Most of the package holidays – often marketed as Silk Road tours – stopped in the cities of Turpan, Kashgar and Urumqi in Xinjiang, and some provided “problematic” experiences including visits to the Xinjiang Regional Museum, which UHRP said contributed to the “state erasure of Uyghur history, culture and identity.”
SEE: Travel firms urged to halt trips to Uyghur region over China rights abuses
In a statement, CAIR Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“We join Uyghur rights groups in calling on travel companies in the United States and other nations to stop providing what are essentially propaganda tours that help the Chinese Communist Party cover up its crimes against Uyghur Muslims. We urge all travel companies to cease offering these travel packages.”
He noted that this week, CAIR called for the release of an ethnic Kazakh man reportedly imprisoned in Xinjiang for publicly reciting the Holy Quran, Islam’s revealed text.
SEE: CAIR Calls for Release of Man Detained in China for Reciting Quran in Public
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
Become a Fan of CAIR on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational
Subscribe to CAIR’s Email List
https://action.cair.com/a/newsletters
Subscribe to CAIR’s Twitter Feed
http://twitter.com/cairnational
Subscribe to CAIR’s YouTube Channel
Follow CAIR on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/cair_national/
Donate to CAIR
https://action.cair.com/a/donate
Do you like reading CAIR press releases and taking part in our action alerts? You can help contribute to CAIR’s work of defending civil rights and empowering American Muslims across the country by making a one-time contribution or becoming a monthly donor. Supporters like you make CAIR’s advocacy work possible and defeating Islamophobia an achievable goal. Click here to donate to CAIR.
If you would like to join CAIR’s media list, please sign up here: https://action.cair.com/a/newsletters — For more information, email: info@cair.com, CC ihooper@cair.com
END
CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com, CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com