During the 1980s and 1990s, violent crackdowns forced a good percentage of Uyghurs to leave China in search of safety.
The Uyghurs are people from Central Asia who talk Turkic. Most of these people are found in China’s northwest, with in independent Xinjiang province. Along with the Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Hui, other Muslim minorities throughout Xinjiang who face persecution include the Uyghurs.
Also, the title of the area implies that the Uyghurs are autonomous and self-governing. However, Xinjiang is a strictly governed area of China, much like Tibet.
There are sizable Uyghur populations in neighbouring nations including Kazakhstan and Kyrgyz. Around 3,000 Uyghurs are thought to reside in Australia. Premier Xi Jinping of China has presided over a tough stance regarding the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities residing in Xinjiang. But administration has recently increased the amount of police in the area and deployed advanced tracking devices.
Minorities who are Muslim are unlawfully detained and locked up. About one million Uyghurs are thought to be imprisoned in what China refers to as “professional education facilities.”
This is specifically designed detention facilities, a few of which mimic extremely secure prisons. According to a new ABC report, China’s campaign of subjection included the expansion of 28 prison centres throughout Xinjiang. Along with stories of fatalities in detention and compulsory labour, there is mounting proof that human liberties breaches are occurring within the centres.
According to reports, Uyghurs living abroad have asked Beijing for “evidence of life” on missing relatives in Xinjiang. According to a previous article in The Guardian, 80% of Uyghurs living in Australia are said to have a relation who has vanished into one of the prisons.
Previous Prejudice
During 1949, the People ‘s Republic of China seized control of Xinjiang. Approximately 76% of the people in the area are believed to be Uyghur at this moment. Only 6.2% of the population was Han Chinese, the large ethnic community in the nation; the remainder was made up of other minority ethnicities.
The town’s racial composition has changed since 1949 as a result of Han immigration. According to official figures, there are now 42% Uyghurs and 40% Han people living in the country.
The area is not recognised as a province by Beijing. Many Muslim minorities of Xinjiang, however, view the 1949 acquisition as colonialism, and some groups of people have rebelled against Beijing’s administration. Some people advocate for Freedom United, whereas others reject to use Mandarin.
Beijing considers any critique or unhappiness with the Chinese Communist Organization to be dangerous. Minority opposition is viewed as a threat to national security. That’s also true even if reasonable voices are pushing for advances in jobs, schooling, and wellness. Regional security is of the greatest priority to Beijing. A assertion that conflicts with the official stance that Xinjiang has always been part of China is not tolerated.
During the 1980s and 1990s, violent crackdowns forced a good percentage of Uyghurs to leave China in search of safety.
Present circumstances
Recurrent demonstrations have taken place throughout Xinjiang as a result of recurrent efforts at quick and forcible integration, discriminating and repressive laws, and a loop of what critics have dubbed “repression-violence-repression.”
Terrorist attacks have occasionally occurred both inside Xinjiang and in other regions of China, like the assault on the Kunming railway terminal.
Beijing has redefined the Uyghur ethnicity as a terrorist organisation in recent years. It has given Beijing the justification it needs to turn Xinjiang into a regime of monitoring. Additionally, there has been a noticeable increase in Islamophobia in China. The government has hired certain Uyghurs to monitor on other Uyghurs and identify any questionable or illegal activities. It applies to people who have quit smoking, abstain from drinking alcohol, and even Uyghurs who decline to view Chinese news programmes.
Beijing uses iris readers, DNA testing, 3D identifying images of Uyghurs, voice and face identification, and other monitoring techniques. These were put into place when Chen Quanguo was named the Xinjiang Party Chief by Xi in 2016. In Tibet, wherein he served in a similar capacity, Chen oversaw the country’s Buddhist populace.
Upwards of 100 Uyghur intelligentsia, comprising authors, poets, reporters, and university lecturers, have been reported to be jailed recently. Although if they hold reasonable positions and strive for peace, academics who stand out against injustice and uphold old traditions face persecution.
Ilham Tohti, an economics instructor who opposed independence and pushed for peace in Xinjiang, was detained by Beijing in 2014. He was wrongly convicted for being a separatist and is presently facing a life prison.
Putting pressure on the Chinese administration China’s Belt and Road programme, a growth strategy including construction and expenditures throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa, is physically dependent on Xinjiang. It might give the world world a method to use sanctions as a form of international pressure. Other choice is to renounce or suspend current Belt and Road contracts. It is the responsibility of other nations to step in and compel Beijing to uphold global human rights laws.
What was the reaction on a worldwide scale?
A large portion of the globe has denounced China for imprisoning Uyghurs in Xinjiang. China has been asked by the human rights office to free individuals who were unjustly arrested and reveal the locations of those who remain missing. Many Western nations on the United Nations Human Rights Council were planning a resolution against China once the office’s assessment was published in 2022, maybe with an investigation process.
The US government was the first to accuse China of perpetrating genocidal acts towards the Uyghurs in January 2021, but legislators in numerous other nations have followed suit, notably Canada and the United Kingdom. Also, the chinese leaders and organisations connected to rights violations have faced sanctions from many nations.
State countries have also put regulations in place to combat the issue of forced labour in Xinjiang. With its Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act, the United States effectively outlawed all imports from the area, while the United Kingdom has suggested legislation to penalise businesses who do not ensure that no forced labour is used in their distribution networks.