After a visit with Uyghur exiles in Istanbul, Turkey who had fled persecution in the XUAR, Yeung learned that many had left behind children who they believed were being held in facilities akin to orphanages throughout the region that are designed to look like regular schools, but where minders systematically assimilate Uyghur youth into Han Chinese culture
Nearly two dozen countries at the United Nations’ Human Rights Council in Geneva have urged China to end mass arbitrary detentions, as well as widespread surveillance and restrictions, on Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR)
Uyghur officials in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are regularly visited by Han Chinese “relatives,” who force them to forgo the dietary restrictions of their Muslim faith during weeklong stays, including prohibitions on the consumption of pork and alcohol, according to sources
Some 200 people died and 1,700 were injured in the three-day rampage of violence that began on July 5, 2009 in Urumqi between ethnic minority Uyghurs and Han Chinese, according to China’s official figures, although Uyghur rights groups say the numbers are much higher
The United States is gravely concerned about the Chinese government’s massive incarceration of Uighurs. Deputy Assistant Secretary Scott Busby explains
Though Beijing initially denied the existence of re-education camps, China has tried to change the discussion, describing the facilities as “boarding schools” that provide vocational training for Uyghurs, discourage radicalization and help protect the country from terrorism