International Uyghur Human Rights & Democracy Foundation

China Uighurs: All you need to know on Muslim 'crackdown'

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China is facing growing criticism over its persecution of some Muslim minority groups, huge numbers of whom are allegedly being held in internment camps.

In August 2018, a UN committee heard that up to one million Uighur Muslims and other Muslim groups could be being detained in the western Xinjiang region, where they're said to be undergoing "re-education" programmes.

The claims were made by rights groups, but China denies the allegations. At the same time, there's growing evidence of oppressive surveillance against people living in Xinjiang.

We've developed this new format to try to explain the story to you better.

Who are the Uighurs?

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They're ethnically Turkic Muslims, and there are about 11 million of them in western China.

Where is Xinjiang?

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It's in the far west of China, and is the country's biggest region. As an autonomous area, it - in theory at least - has a degree of self-governance away from Beijing. Uighur Muslims make up under half the region's roughly 26 million people.

What's happening to people in Xinjiang?

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Human Rights Watch says Uighur people in particular are subject to intense surveillance and are made to give DNA and biometric samples. Those with relatives in 26 "sensitive" countries have reportedly been rounded up, and up to a million detained. Rights groups say people in camps are made to learn Mandarin Chinese and criticise or renounce their faith.

What has the BBC learned?

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Former prisoners told us of physical as well as psychological torture in the camps. Entire families had disappeared, and we were told detainees were tortured physically and mentally. We also saw evidence of almost a complete surveillance state in Xinjiang.

What about Uighur violence?

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A number of attacks have been blamed on separatists in Xinjiang and beyond over the past decade. About 200 people - mostly Han Chinese - were killed in rioting in the regional capital Urumqi in 2009. A crackdown was stepped up after five people were stabbed to death in February 2017.

What does China say?

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It denies there are internment camps but says people in Xinjiang are receiving "vocational training". A senior official in Xinjiang says the region is facing the "three evil forces" of terrorism, extremism and separatism.

What is the world doing?

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There's growing international criticism of China's treatment of Uighur Muslims but, as of yet, no country has taken any action beyond issuing critical statements.

Source: BBC