The Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic group who have been living in the Chinese province of Xinjiang for centuries. They are not and have never been ethnic Han Chinese, as their language and culture are more close to that of Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. Islam is a huge part of their culture and was brought to the region by the Mongols actually, more specifically during the Il-Khanate, when one of Genghis Khan’s grandsons, Hulegu, took control of much of what is now the Middle East and parts of Central Asia. Additionally, East Turkestan was at the center of the Silk Road, another huge reason as to why Islam became so widespread in the region. The city of Kashgar, a city that exists today in East Turkestan, faced an especially huge cultural exchange. Under the Il-Khanate, the Uyghurs enjoyed a great amount of autonomy, until the Qing emperor took over China and began his bloody reign. Under this dynasty, there were multiple conflicts that broke out as the emperor attempted to annex the region. Aside from managing to capture two smaller territories within the Uyghur region through the use of Chinese gunpowder, his efforts were largely unsuccessful. East Turkestan was finally invaded under the Manchu Dynasty in 1884 when it was renamed as Xinjiang- New Territory. However, their full autonomy wasn’t compromised until the rise of the Chinese Communist Party in 1911 and the ultimate loss of the dynastic system in China’s governance. With the entrance of the CCP and the idea of sinification, the Uyghurs and other non-Chinese ethnic minorities in China slowly began to see their autonomy, culture, and independence stripped away.
East Turkestan now is one of the most heavily surveillanced regions in the world. Before the Chinese regime began their policies on concentration camps, the ethnic Uyghurs of the region had been suffering in an “open-air prison.” In the last two years, the CCP has invested about $7.2 billion in techno-security in East Turkestan alone, which covers the costs for DNA sampling, retina scans, voiceprints, tracking and facial recognition, and the installment of mandatory GPS devices on cars. China’s crackdown on the Uyghur people is due to a number of reasons. For example, the Tarim Basin in East Turkestan holds 23.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas, the Uyghur region is also home to 40% of China’s coal, in addition to holding 150 billion barrels in oil reserves. The economic benefits of the area and the resources of the Uyghur people are heavily desired by the Chinese government. Many have asserted that the reason for Uyghur persecution could be religious, as China states that its “re-education” camps are an “anti-terrorism strategy,” however this is essentially propaganda by the CCP because the ultimate reason for this crackdown is due to ethnic background. Though they have been subject to persecution, Han Chinese Muslims aren't thrown in concentration camps or arrested at the same scale the Uyghurs are.
In the last few years, many Uyghurs flocked to Turkey for refuge. However, a majority are stuck in China, as the government seized their passports. The women, men, children, and elders left in China now are likely to face one of three things: a sentence to concentration camps for either death or torture, or forced marriage for the women to Han Chinese men. Additionally, children may be taken from their families and sent to orphanages to be adopted by Han families. Chinese communist officials have forcibly sterilized Uyghur women and girls and pushed abortions and intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUDs) on hundreds of thousands of Uyghur women. The cultural landscape of the Xinjiang province is also altered: libraries containing Uyghur volumes have been demolished or burned, mosques have been shut down, burned, or changed into bars, and Muslim cemeteries have been replaced with parking lots or shopping centers. Uyghurs in China who haven’t been sent to a camp have cut all contact with family members outside of China because even that is reason enough to be sent to one. Thousands of Uyghurs outside of China likely haven’t contacted any of their family members since 2017. Practicing Islam, growing a beard, wearing a hijab, fasting, praying, speaking Uyghur, and even calling Xinjiang “East Turkestan” is reason enough to get one sent to a camp. This assimilation of Uyghurs in China into Han culture and the disconnection the Uyghurs in other parts of the world have with East Turkestan all foster the loss of culture and language, a haunting and well-known characteristic of ethnic cleansings.
Written by: Kawsar Yasin