Peter Irwin

How a casual online booking can link you to repression in the Uyghur Region Digital booking platforms profit from their silence on human rights violations.

✍🏼 Op-ed by Henryk Szadziewski and Peter Irwin for Open Global Rights.

Expedia and Booking.com are facilitating hotel bookings in Uyghur Region amidst genocide and crimes against humanity.

www.openglobalrights.org/how-a-casual...

The Uyghur Reader: Stories We’re Following (Issue 16) - Uyghur Human Rights Project Issue 16: January 8, 2026 – January 22, 2026  Welcome to the sixteenth issue of the Uyghur Reader, a biweekly content roundup curated by the staff of the Uyghur Human Rights Project. Each issue featur...

📰 Issue 16 of the #UyghurReader is out!

A biweekly roundup of reporting + analysis on the Uyghur crisis, including forced labor warnings, transnational repression, and cultural erasure.

Curated by @henrykszad.bsky.social @peterirwin.bsky.social
@zubayra.bsky.social

uhrp.org/uyghur-reade...

The Uyghur Reader: Stories We’re Following (Issue 13) - Uyghur Human Rights Project Welcome to the thirteenth issue of the Uyghur Reader, a biweekly content roundup curated by the staff of the Uyghur Human Rights Project.

📰 Issue 13 of the #UyghurReader is out!

A biweekly roundup highlighting essential reporting + analysis on the Uyghur crisis (Nov 13–26).

Curated 🧠 this week by @henrykszad.bsky.social @peterirwin.bsky.social @zubayra.bsky.social.

uhrp.org/uyghur-reade...

Coal-to-Chemical Expansion in East Turkistan and the Fracture in China’s Climate Commitments - Uyghur Human Rights Project As world leaders gather in Belém this week for COP30, China arrives with familiar rhetoric: a pledge to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

UHRP #Insights💡

As #COP30 🌍 unfolded this week, @peterirwin.bsky.social and @henrykszad.bsky.social highlight China's expansion of 🪨 coal-to-chemical projects in the Uyghur Region.

We look at pollution, strained water resources, and environmental degradation as a result.

uhrp.org/insights/coa...

Tourism to Xinjiang booms as China gives the region a makeover China has repackaged Xinjiang into a tourist haven, touting "ethnic" experiences that activists say it's trying to erase.

"Some 200 international hotels, including prominent names like Hilton and Marriott, are either already operating or planning to open in Xinjiang, according to [the] Uyghur Human Rights Project."

BBC News cites research by @peterirwin.bsky.social @henrykszad.bsky.social.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

How a Casual Online Booking Can Link You, Click by Click, to Repression in East Turkistan - Uyghur Human Rights Project November 4, 2025 A UHRP Insights column by Dr. Henryk Szadziewski, Director of Research, and Peter Irwin, Associate Director for Research and Advocacy Open your browser, go to Booking.com, and search ...

💡UHRP #Insights by @henrykszad.bsky.social + @peterirwin.bsky.social show how Booking and Expedia profit from hotel bookings in the Uyghur Region, despite ongoing atrocity crimes.

These platforms list hotels connected to a sanctioned entity, forced labor, and other abuses.

uhrp.org/insights/how...

Manifest Risk: New “Air Silk Road” Cargo Flights Carry Risk of Uyghur Forced Labor into Europe - Uyghur Human Rights Project Air cargo routes are rapidly expanding between Ürümchi and over a dozen European cities. Since June 2024, nine cargo companies have launched new air freight routes between Ürümchi and cities across th...

📊 UHRP research by @peterirwin.bsky.social and
@henrykszad.bsky.social uncovers surge in air cargo flights between Ürümchi and over a dozen European cities.

These ✈️ 📦 routes risk carrying goods linked to Uyghur forced labor directly into European supply chains.

uhrp.org/report/manif...

The Uyghur Reader: Stories We’re Following (Issue 9) - Uyghur Human Rights Project Welcome to the ninth issue of the Uyghur Reader, a biweekly content roundup curated by the staff of the Uyghur Human Rights Project.

📖 Issue 9 of the #UyghurReader is out!

🧵 A biweekly roundup highlighting essential reporting + analysis on the Uyghur crisis (Sep 18 – Oct 1), curated by
@henrykszad.bsky.social @peterirwin.bsky.social @zubayra.bsky.social

uhrp.org/uyghur-reade...

📢 Tribune libre avec Gulbahar Haitiwaji & @peterirwin.bsky.social sur Accor et ses activités au Xinjiang.

« La solution est claire : les entreprises doivent cesser leurs activités au Xinjiang, et les gouvernements doivent les tenir responsables si elles refusent. » (1/2)

Significant new investigation from @robhastings.bsky.social for @theipaper.com shows significant 📈 in imports from Uyghur Region to the 🇬🇧 UK.

The report builds on UHRP research by @peterirwin.bsky.social and @henrykszad.bsky.social showing a surge in cargo flights into the EU and UK.

📊 New UHRP research by @peterirwin.bsky.social and
@henrykszad.bsky.social uncovers surge in air cargo flights between Ürümchi and over a dozen European cities.

These ✈️ 📦 routes risk carrying goods linked to Uyghur forced labor directly into European supply chains.

uhrp.org/report/manif...

China’s new ‘Air Silk Road’ brings thousands of tons of goods from Xinjiang to Europe More than 40 freight routes now connect Europe to the region, where Beijing is accused of subjecting the Uyghur ethnic group to forced labor.

Exclusive @politico.com coverage of research by
@peterirwin.bsky.social + @henrykszad.bsky.social on 📈 in cargo flights from Uyghur Region to Europe.

These ✈️ planes carry goods from sectors at high risk of forced labor.

@glanktree.bsky.social @hannecl.bsky.social

www.politico.eu/article/chin...

Uyghur Deportations from Thailand Part of a Decade of Betrayal - Uyghur Human Rights Project On July 8, 2015, Thai authorities shackled and hooded at least 109 Uyghur men then placed them on a plane bound for China. Chinese state media released footage showing the men, blindfolded and restrai...

New UHRP #Insights💡

"Uyghur Deportations from Thailand Part of a Decade of Betrayal," by @peterirwin.bsky.social.

On July 8, 2015, Thai authorities deported at least 109 Uyghur men to China. Ten years later, #TransnationalRepression has only increased.

uhrp.org/insights/uyg...

Princeton University Press’ Trip into Chinese State Propaganda Erasing Atrocities, and How They Can Support Uyghur Intellectuals - Uyghur Human Rights Project In June 2025, a group of Princeton University Press (PUP) representatives participated in a state-arranged visit to the Uyghur Region. PUP claimed the intention of the trip was to build “inclusive cro...

UHRP #Insights 💡 by @henrykszad.bsky.social + @peterirwin.bsky.social

"Princeton University Press' Trip into Chinese State Propaganda Erasing Atrocities, and How They Can Support Uyghur Intellectuals"

uhrp.org/statement/pr...

It Does Matter Where You Stay: International Hotel Chains in East Turkistan - Uyghur Human Rights Project Five international hotel chains—Accor, Hilton, InterContinental (IHG), Marriott, and Wyndham—currently operate in the Uyghur Region amidst ongoing crimes against humanity and genocide.

Research by @peterirwin.bsky.social @henrykszad.bsky.social + Ben Carrdus from April demonstrated the dramatic 📈 increase in international hotel chains in the Uyghur region.

IHG is operating—and dramatically expanding—its business amidst atrocities.

uhrp.org/report/it-do...

The Uyghur Reader: Stories We’re Following (Issue 2)  - Uyghur Human Rights Project On June 20, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) published a report by Daniel Murphy revealing how South Korean electronics company, LG, directly owns and operates two factories that have rec...

📣 Check out Issue 2 of the #UyghurReader: a biweekly roundup curated by UHRP's @henrykszad.bsky.social and @peterirwin.bsky.social.

Each issue highlights urgent human rights reporting, analysis, and stories from across the Uyghur world—from East Turkistan to the diaspora.

uhrp.org/uyghur-reade...

International Hotel Giants Are Profiting Despite Genocide in Xinjiang Rather than reducing their exposure to the region, companies are on a building spree.

One prominent industry continues to avoid scrutiny for operating in Xinjiang: major international hotel chains, peterirwin.bsky.social and @henrykszad.bsky.social write. Rather than reducing their exposure to the region, these companies are on a building spree.

International Hotel Giants Are Profiting Despite Genocide in Xinjiang Rather than reducing their exposure to the region, companies are on a building spree.

The "naming and shaming" human rights strategy hasn't kept major international hotel chains from expanding their operations in China's Xinjiang province, @peterirwin.bsky.social and @henrykszad.bsky.social write.

International Hotel Giants Are Profiting Despite Genocide in Xinjiang Rather than reducing their exposure to the region, companies are on a building spree.

New op-ed by UHRP's @peterirwin.bsky.social and @henrykszad.bsky.social in @foreignpolicy.com 👉🏼

Despite atrocities, major hotel chains are rapidly expanding in the Uyghur Region.

Shaming China isn't enough if corporations like Marriott and Hilton get a free pass.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/02/c...

UHRP Analysis Finds 1 in 26 Uyghurs Imprisoned in Region With World’s Highest Prison Rate - Uyghur Human Rights Project An estimated 1 in 26 Uyghurs and other non-Han people in the Uyghur Region are imprisoned, making up a third of China’s total prison population April 25, 2024 A UHRP Insights column by Ben Carrdus, UH...

Research by Peter Irwin and Ben Carrdus found that the Uyghur Region has the highest imprisonment rate in the world—an estimated 2,234 per 100,000 people.

Uyghurs + other Turkic peoples account for *more than a third* of China’s estimated total prison population.

uhrp.org/insights/uhr...

“We’re All Chinese, Aren’t We?” | Los Angeles Review of Books Jessie Lau ponders Emily Feng’s “Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping’s China.”

"[According to UHRP] an estimated one in 26 Uyghurs in Xinjiang have been imprisoned, and official statistics show that the region had more than 578,000 criminal convictions between 2017 and 2022."

Research by @peterirwin.bsky.social + Ben Carrdus cited.

lareviewofbooks.org/article/were...

Hotel chains should not ‘sanitise’ China abuses in Xinjiang, Uyghur rights group says International hotel chains showing sanitised image of the Xinjiang region are serving Beijing’s propaganda, says rights group

“There is absolutely no way these multibillion-dollar corporations can operate responsibly in this environment – their presence alone normalises and legitimises these abuses,” said Peter Irwin, report co-author.

@the-independent.com coverage of new research.

www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/u...

British hotel chain ‘violating sanctions’ in China Report alleges IHG’s hotels in Xinjiang are participating in the ‘broader suppression’ of the Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority

British chain IHG, which owns #InterContinental, Holiday Inn & other brands, is accused of violating sanctions by building hotels in #China’s Xinjiang where MPs hv said genocide is occurring against Muslim groups, incl #Uyghurs. cc @uyghurproject.bsky.social

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

Uyghur rights group calls on hotel chains not to ‘sanitise’ China abuses in Xinjiang Growth in international hotels coincides with government effort to push region as a tourism destination

Peter Irwin, associate director for research and advocacy at UHRP, said: “The government can point to these major companies entrenching themselves [...] as evidence that everything is normal, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.”

UHRP research cited.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Uyghur rights group calls on hotel chains not to ‘sanitise’ China abuses in Xinjiang Growth in international hotels coincides with government effort to push region as a tourism destination

Uyghur rights group calls on hotel chains not to ‘sanitise’ China abuses in Xinjiang

🆕 New UHRP research on dramatic 📈 increase in int'l hotels chains in the Uyghur region—by @peterirwin.bsky.social, @henrykszad.bsky.social, and Ben Carrdus.

Major 🏨 chains all operating amidst atrocities.

📊 uhrp.org/report/it-does-matter-where-you-stay-international-hotel-chains-in-east-turkistan

Devastating news.

A flight from Bangkok (DMK) left at 4:48 a.m. Thursday, landing in Kashgar at 12:09 p.m. local time.

Trucks with covered windows left the Bangkok prison, where 43 Uyghur men were held, just after 2:00 a.m. Thursday.

The plane almost certainly carried the group of Uyghurs.

Western Brands Cash In On Xinjiang's Tourism Boom - The Wire China China has invested heavily in promoting tourism to Xinjiang. Its efforts are paying off.

Recasting the region for tourism supports the "state narrative of shifting from a region that is unstable [...] and now is ready for visiting and investment."

UHRP Research Director @henrykszad.bsky.social on his #GenocideTours research.

www.thewirechina.com/2025/02/16/x...

On February 5, 1997, Chinese security forces opened fire on Uyghurs peacefully protesting a crackdown on a burgeoning civil society movement.

The Ghulja Massacre is a tragic reminder of the ongoing repression of Uyghurs.

#GhuljaMassacre

Questions grow over UNHCR inaction as Uyghurs in Thailand face deportation threat Human rights advocates are demanding to know why the UN’s refugee agency hasn’t done more to secure the Uyghurs’ right to asylum.

"There are distressing indications that protection of the group from deportation has not been [UNHCR's] top priority," said Ben Carrdus, UHRP senior researcher.

New questions on UNHCR's lack of support for Uyghurs in 🇹🇭 Thailand @6oldberg.bsky.social.

www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature...