China is facing increasing criticism from around the world over the treatment of the mostly Muslim-Uighur population in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Legal groups estimate that in recent years China has detained more than a million Uighurs in what the state defines as ‘re-education camps’.
There is evidence that Uighurs are used as forced labor and that women are forcibly sterilized.
The US accuses China of genocide and crimes against humanity by suppressing the Uighur
Who are the Uighurs?
There are about 12 million Uighurs, mostly Muslims, living in northwestern China in the Xinjiang region, officially known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
The Uighurs speak their own language, similar to Turkish, and consider themselves culturally and ethnically close to the Central Asian countries.
They make up less than half of the Xinjiang population.
In recent decades, there has been a mass migration from Han Chinese (ethnic majority China) to Xinjiang, and the Uighurs feel that their culture and livelihoods are threatened.
Where is Xinjiang?
Xinjiang is located in northwestern China and is the country’s largest region.
Like Tibet, it is autonomous, which means that in theory it has some powers of self-government. But in practice, both face major constraints by the central government.
It is mostly a desert area and produces about a fifth of the world’s cotton.
It is also rich in oil and natural gas and is considered by Beijing to be an important trade link because it is close to Central Asia and Europe.
In the early 20th century, the Uighurs briefly declared independence, but in 1949 the region was brought under the full control of the new Communist government of mainland China.
What are the allegations against China?
The US has accused China of committing genocide against the Uighurs. According to international convention, genocide is the ‘intention to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part’.
This follows reports that China, as well as the Uighur in the camp, also violently sterilized to sterilize Uighur women to oppress the population and separate the Uighur children from their families.
On his last day in office under the Trump administration, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: “I believe that this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt by Uighurs by the Chinese to destroy a party state. “
A UN human rights committee said in 2018 that it had credible reports that the Chinese were holding up to a million people in ‘anti-extremism centers’ in Xinjiang.
In 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute found evidence of more than 380 of these ‘re-education camps’ in Xinjiang, a 40% increase over previous estimates.
Earlier, leaked documents, known as the China Cables, made it clear that the camps were meant to be high-security prisons, with strict discipline and penalties.
People who managed to escape from the camps reported physical, mental and sexual torture – women spoke of mass rape and sexual abuse.
In December 2020, research seen by the BBC showed that half a million people are forced to pick cotton. There is evidence that new factories were built on the site of the re-education camps.
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What was the build-up to the oppression?
Anti-Han and separatist sentiment rose in Xinjiang from the 1990s and occasionally flared up in violence. In 2009, about 200 people died in clashes in Xinjiang, blaming the Chinese on the Uighurs who want their own state. But over the past few years, a massive security operation has crushed the difference of opinion.
Xinjiang is now covered by an extensive network of surveillance, including police, checkpoints and cameras that scan everything from license plates to individual faces. According to Human Rights Watch, police also use a mobile app to monitor people’s behavior, such as how much electricity they use and how often they use their front door.
Since 2017, when President Xi Jinping issued an order saying that all religions in China must be Chinese, there have been further repression. Campaigns say China is trying to eradicate Uighur culture.
What does China say?
China has said reports that Ugus has been detained are completely untrue.
It says repression is needed to prevent terrorism and eradicate Islamic extremism, and the camps are an effective tool for re-educating prisoners in the fight against terrorism.
It urges Uighur militants to carry out a violent campaign for an independent state by planning bombings, sabotage and civil unrest, but is accused of exaggerating the threat to justify Uighur oppression.
China has dismissed allegations that it is trying to reduce the Uighur population through mass sterilization as “unfounded”, saying allegations of forced labor have been “completely fabricated”.
Coverage of China’s hidden camps
