Berlin, March 6 (NationPress) The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has voiced significant alarm regarding reports that Uyghurs residing in China's Xinjiang region are encountering strict limitations during the sacred month of Ramadan, with numerous individuals reportedly detained for participating in religious observances.

The organization emphasized that these measures highlight the lack of religious freedom in East Turkistan, also referred to as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.

According to the Uyghur Service of Radio Free Asia (RFA), on February 27, law enforcement apprehended six Uyghurs in various villages within Hotan Prefecture—including Bulaq Chorgey, Bash Chapal, Dul Tugman, and Korgan—for allegedly “secretly fasting” during the month of Ramadan.

“Restrictions on Ramadan observance tighten each year. The recent detention of six Uyghurs indicates that individuals are not even allowed to practice their faith in the privacy of their homes. Surveillance and forced labor are practices that violate both international law and domestic Chinese laws,” stated WUC President Turgunjan Alawdun.

The WUC noted that these troubling developments arise amid ongoing talks concerning the plight of Uyghurs at the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

In her thematic report to the Council, “How Freedom of Religion or Belief Relates to Death and Honouring the Deceased,” the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Nazila Ghanea, underscored that Chinese authorities are demolishing and replacing Uyghur Muslim cemeteries under the pretense of “standardization” and “civilization,” often without informing the deceased’s relatives.

The WUC declared that these actions align with the broader initiative by the Chinese government to enforce the “Sinicisation” of religion, intended to modify religious practices to align with Communist Party ideology and state control.

“In East Turkistan, this policy has led to systematic curbs on the expression of Islamic faith, including prohibitions on fasting during Ramadan for many community members, alterations to or removal of mosques and religious sites, bans on religious education, and the criminalization of everyday religious activities. Practices that are normal expressions of faith—such as fasting, praying, wearing religious attire, or teaching religion to children—are increasingly viewed as signs of ‘extremism’,” the WUC explained.

“The surveillance and punishment of Uyghurs for observing Ramadan exemplify a broader strategy aimed at dismantling independent religious life and compelling the assimilation of Uyghurs into a state-defined cultural and ideological framework, which blatantly contravenes international law concerning the right to freedom of religion or belief,” it added.