Human rights organizations have accused China of committing numerous violations in Xinjiang, most notably mass detentions, forced labor, sterilization and cultural genocide. Beijing denies any persecution of Muslim minorities in the Far Eastern province and stresses that its policies have led to the elimination of terrorism and the resurgence local economy.
Chinese authorities have detained more than a million Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslims in detention centers and prisons in the province, according to a number of researchers. According to government documents seen by AFP in 2018,
Surrounded by barbed wire and surveillance cameras, these posts are manned by guards armed with tear gas, electric detonators and spiked batons. Other documents obtained by University of Sheffield professor David Tobin and viewed by AFP show how officials in the north of the region have been mobilized to systematically persecute Muslims.
Among those documents is a pamphlet published in 2016 detailing interrogation techniques and urging authorities to be wary of “recalcitrant” and “two-faced” religious imams.
China has also been accused of recruiting Uyghurs into “forced labor” programs linked to international supply chains in sectors ranging from the clothing industry to automobiles. Beijing says that these are initiatives aimed at reducing poverty by providing well-paid jobs to low-income rural residents.
But studies show that authorities forced tens of thousands of people to work in fields and factories linked to detention centers. Scholars and NGO activists say Xinjiang’s strict birth control measures since 2017 (including the imposition of sterilization quotas and the forced placement of contraceptive coils) are part of a deliberate attempt to cut birth rates among ethnic minorities.
China has denied these allegations, arguing that the low birth rate reflects regional economic development and is changing social norms. Between 2017 and 2019, population growth slowed sharply in parts of Xinjiang where many minorities live, according to studies based on local government statistics in China.
This came at a time when the central government was encouraging the predominantly Han population to have more children to avoid a demographic crisis. According to researchers and Uyghurs living outside the country, in recent years China has waged a war against the religious, cultural and linguistic practices of the Uyghurs.
As per government policy since 2017, about 16,000 mosques in Xinjiang, two-thirds of the total mosques in the province, have been destroyed or damaged, according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
There are also allegations that Uyghurs are being pressured not to speak their own language and give up Islamic practices such as praying, owning religious books, and growing beards.
