S. 1542 — Uyghur Policy Act of 2026

This section states congressional findings on the repression of Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by the People's Republic of China, including mass arbitrary detention of more than 1,000,000 people, forced political indoctrination, torture, and genocide.

This section expresses the sense of Congress that the Government of the PRC should immediately open the XUAR to visits by members of the press, international organizations, academic institutions, and foreign delegations; recognize and preserve the ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic identity of Uyghurs and other minority groups; cease crackdowns, detentions, and transnational repression; release all prisoners detained for their identities or beliefs, including Ekper Asat (serving a 15-year sentence), Dr. Gulshan Abbas (sentenced to 20 years after detention on September 11, 2018), and Kamile Wayit (detained December 12, 2022); facilitate access for humanitarian organizations to reeducation centers; and that the Department of State should disseminate information on related human rights issues.

This section requires the Secretary of State to prioritize policies supporting Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in the XUAR, promote protection of their distinct identities and human rights, coordinate releases of political prisoners, consult with Congress, administer aid to advocates, engage foreign ministries and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, support independent media including Radio Free Asia, address transnational repression, establish a reporting mechanism for incidents, and submit annual reports to Congress with recommendations. It requires adequate Department resources and sunsets the requirements after 5 years.

This section provides $250,000 annually for fiscal years 2025 through 2027 from the United States Speaker Program to support human rights advocates working on behalf of Uyghurs and other persecuted ethnic and religious minority groups from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China. It directs the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, in consultation with representatives of the global Uyghur community, to identify such advocates for speaking engagements at public diplomacy forums, particularly those involving Organisation of Islamic Cooperation countries and other Muslim-majority countries.

This section directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with other agencies, to develop within 180 days a strategy to cooperate with like-minded partners in pressuring the Government of the PRC to close all detention facilities and political reeducation camps housing Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the XUAR, allow unhindered access to those facilities by independent media, researchers, international organizations, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and protect the human rights and religious and cultural identity of those communities. It also requires the Secretary to submit a report on the strategy and its implementation to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee within one year.

This section requires the Secretary of State to make Uyghur language training available to Foreign Service officers and to assign at least one Uyghur-speaking officer to each United States diplomatic or consular post in China. It directs the Foreign Service Institute to report annually for three years on implementation to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

This section urges the President to direct the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations to oppose efforts blocking consideration of gross human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in any UN body or the participation of Uyghur human rights advocates in UN-hosted nongovernmental fora. It also urges support for appointing a special rapporteur or working group to monitor XUAR violations and report to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the General Assembly, and other UN subsidiaries.