Australian Uyghurs Face Surveillance Requests from Chinese Authorities During Visits to Xinjiang: Human Rights Watch

Australian Uyghurs Face Surveillance Requests from Chinese Authorities During Visits to Xinjiang: Human Rights Watch

For some Australian Uyghurs, returning to Xinjiang to visit family has become a journey with surveillance conditions attached. Human Rights Watch released a report on August 16, stating that Chinese authorities have interrogated Australian Uyghurs who returned to Xinjiang and required some of them to gather information on local Uyghur activists, organizations, and language schools upon their return to Australia.

Human Rights Watch interviewed 11 Australian Uyghur citizens and permanent residents, including recent visitors to Xinjiang, from April to May this year. The interviewees stated that during their travels in Xinjiang, they were required to obtain prior approval from local authorities, stay in designated hotels, report their daily itineraries, and undergo multiple interrogations.

Figure: Human Rights Watch related report illustration, involving Uyghur human rights and overseas community issues.

One interviewee claimed that the police repeatedly asked for the addresses and contact information of Australian Uyghur activists and required them to take photos of community activities after returning to Australia. Others were asked about the teachers, students, and activities of Uyghur language schools. Human Rights Watch believes that such practices exploit the connections between overseas Uyghurs and their families in Xinjiang, turning family visits into opportunities for intelligence gathering and behavioral control.

There are approximately 5,000 Uyghurs in Australia, with weekend Uyghur language schools in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Brisbane. Human Rights Watch pointed out that some parents are concerned that their children's participation in language schools may affect their own or their relatives' future entry into Xinjiang, leading to reduced participation in community activities.

The Australian Department of Home Affairs responded by stating that the Australian government takes foreign interference and transnational repression seriously and that foreign governments must not use threats or coercion to prevent Australian residents from exercising their basic rights. The Chinese government had not responded to the investigation summary submitted by Human Rights Watch as of the report's release.

The most effective means of transnational repression often lies not in open violence but in creating a fear that "your family will bear the consequences." As long as overseas activists believe that their speeches in Australia will affect their relatives in Xinjiang, they may voluntarily reduce their protests, interviews, and community activities, even in a democratic society.

Human Rights Watch urges the Australian government to strengthen travel risk warnings, provide safe reporting channels, and promote family reunification. For Australia, this issue involves human rights, foreign interference, and national sovereignty: if foreign governments can control the speech of Australian residents through their families within the country, then repression has already crossed borders.