The crisis in Xinjiang, where more than 1 million Uyghurs endure mass detention, forced labour and cultural erasure, is one of the most defining human rights challenges of our time. As the world’s largest Muslim-majority democracy, Indonesia holds both a moral obligation to respond decisively and a strategic interest in doing so.
Coming years, probably the next 10, will determine whether such regional powers as Jakarta help shape a rules-based order that defends minority rights or cede moral leadership to geopolitical expediency.
While Western democracies have issued condemnations, imposed sanctions and passed legislation, such as the United States’ Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, most of the Islamic world, including Indonesia, has remained publicly muted about the plight of the Uyghurs. At the October 2022 UN Human Rights Council vote, Indonesia sided with China in blocking debate on the issue. That decision risked undermining Indonesia’s hard-earned credibility as a pluralist, rights-respecting state and could alienate an increasingly rights-conscious global Muslim public.
This silence comes at a cost. China’s repression of Uyghurs isn’t merely a bilateral issue; it threatens core principles of international law, religious freedom and labour rights. Moreover, Xinjiang’s forced labour system contaminates global supply chains in textiles, solar panels and agriculture, including sectors vital to Indonesia’s export and import economies. As international due diligence regulations tighten, Indonesian firms risk reputational and market-access damage if complicit by omission.
Over the next decade, Indonesia can, and should, pivot from passive concern to proactive leadership. As a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and influencer wihtin the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Jakarta has unique diplomatic leverage. It could spearhead an ASEAN-OIC joint call for a UN fact-finding mission in Xinjiang. Such a move would not only reassert Islamic solidarity but bolster ASEAN’s credibility in championing universal human rights amid a growing regional trust deficit.
Domestically, Indonesia can act too. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should implement humanitarian visa quotas for Uyghur refugees and students, offering at least 500 annual placements alongside full scholarships at leading universities. This would be both a moral act and a soft-power investment. Civil society organisations, which have already held vigils and issued statements, deserve dedicated grant funding to expand Uyghur cultural programs and digital rights initiatives.
Indonesia’s trade authorities must also require mandatory human rights due diligence across palm oil, textiles, and mining sectors, modeled on international best practices. This would not only align with emerging global standards but protect Indonesian businesses from future sanctions targeting goods tainted by forced labour.
Religious leaders play an essential role. The Indonesian Ulema Council and Nahdlatul Ulama should issue fatwas condemning arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and their forced assimilation into China’s mainstream, Han-ethnicity society. Faith-based diplomacy has historically been a powerful Indonesian asset, from the Palestinian issue to advocacy for Rohingya rights, and must be deployed here.
At the academic level, Indonesia can lead by convening an Asia–Uyghur Academic Network, linking universities for research collaborations, cultural studies and policy dialogues. This would ensure that Uyghur history and identity remain visible in regional scholarship, resisting erasure.
Above all, this is about defending the rule of law and human dignity. In the long arc of history, nations are judged not solely by their prosperity or alliances, but by the causes they choose to champion in times of injustice. As evidence of atrocities in Xinjiang mounts, Indonesia faces a defining moral test.
Silence may serve temporary political convenience but will stain the nation’s moral legacy. Jakarta must rise above transactional diplomacy, embrace its position as a voice of conscience in the Muslim world, and lead multilateral efforts to demand accountability, protect Uyghur culture and defend universal human rights. It’s not just the Uyghurs’ future at stake; it’s the integrity of the global human rights order itself.