China: Current information on the treatment of an ethnic group called Uighur (Uygur) by the government of China and on whether there is a policy of forced assimilation toward the Uighurs (Uygurs)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1993 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | CHN13130 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, China: Current information on the treatment of an ethnic group called Uighur (Uygur) by the government of China and on whether there is a policy of forced assimilation toward the Uighurs (Uygurs), 1 February 1993, CHN13130, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab9544.html [accessed 1 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
According to Inter Press Service, the decision of the Chinese authorities to resettle about 500,000 Han Chinese in the Province of Xinjiang has "outraged" the Uighurs who are the native inhabitants of the province (9 Dec. 1992, 1-2). The report states that the government reduced the Uighur's population share of the province from 75 percent in 1949 to 40 percent in 1992 by increasing the number of Han Chinese settlers in Xinjiang (Ibid., 2). The report adds that a Munich-based Uighur opposition group, the East Turkestan Association, which seeks the independence of Xinjiang, called on the global community "to take immediate steps" to prevent "people of East Turkestan from having to choose between national extinction through gradual assimilation or a mortal struggle to defend their own identity by heroic resistance" (Ibid., 1).
The Ottawa Citizen provides information on an Amnesty International report on the ill-treatment of the ethnic Muslim minority of Xinjiang by the government of China (25 Nov. 1992, 1- 2). The Amnesty International report refers to an unspecified number of "demonstrations and uprisings" in Xinjiang in the period from 1989 to 1992 which were "all connected to public outrage against Chinese suppression of Muslim activities" (Ibid., 1). The report also refers to the suppression of demonstrations in Xinjiang as well as arrests, detentions, shootings and executions of Uighurs (Ibid., 1-2).
The United Press International reports on the existence of a separatist movement in Xinjiang among its Muslim Uighurs (8 June 1992, 1-2). The source states that the government of China rules with "an iron fist" in that province (Ibid., 2). It also refers to the suppression of "a small rebellion" in the Xinjiang-Kazakhstan border town of Baren early in the spring of 1991 which resulted in the "killing [of] dozens of Muslim separatists" (Ibid.).
An Agence France Presse article quotes the acknowledgement of the government of China of the existence of a separatist movement in Xinjiang (9 Mar. 1992, 1). It also quotes a Chinese official as stating that [w]e must further perfect the united defense system of the four as one army, police, people and militia and resolutely resist and attack the disruptive activities of the internal and external hostile forces (Ibid.).
The article refers to the engagement of Xingjiang's majority Muslim population ... in a violent campaign for autonomy from Beijing that has resulted in bloody riots, the last one reported in April 1990 at Baren (Ibid., 2).
Attached please find an Asiaweek article on the existence of a separatist movement in Xinjiang and an Amnesty International report on the violation of human rights in Xinjiang.
Additional information on the above subjects is currently unavailable to the DIRB.
References
Agence France Presse (AFP). 9 March 1992. Bruce Shu. "China Admits Spread of Moslem Separatism." (NEXIS)
Asiaweek [Hong Kong]. 10 April 1992. "A Time Bomb in the West." IRBDC Indexed Media Review [Ottawa], 7-14 April 1992, Vol. 3, No. 15.
Inter Press Service (IPS). 9 December 1992. Yojana Sharma. "China: Xinjiang Resettlement drive Outrages Ethnic Minorities." (NEXIS)
The Ottawa Citizen. 25 November 1992. "China Persecuting Muslims, Says Amnesty International." (NEXIS)
The United Press International (UPI). 8 June 1992. Nick Driver. "Xinjiang Governor Says China 'Not Afraid' of Separatists." (NEXIS)
Attachments
Agence France Presse (AFP). 9 March 1992. Bruce Shu. "China Admits Spread of Moslem Separatism," pp. 1-2. (NEXIS)
Amnesty International. November 1992. People's Republic of China: Secret Violence: Human Rights Violations in Xinjiang. (AI Index: ASA 17/50/92). London: Amnesty International Publications.
Asiaweek [Hong Kong]. 10 April 1992. "A Time Bomb in the West."
IRBDC Indexed Media Review [Ottawa], 7-14 April 1992, Vol. 3, No. 15. pp. 100-100A.
Inter Press Service (IPS). 9 December 1992. Yojana Sharma. "China: Xinjiang Resettlement Drive Outrages Ethnic Minorities," pp. 1-2. (NEXIS)
The Ottawa Citizen. 25 November 1992. "China Persecuting Muslims, Says Amnesty International," pp. 1-2. (NEXIS)
The United Press International (UPI). 8 June 1992. Nick Driver. "Xinjiang Governor Says China 'Not Afraid' of Separatists," pp. 1-2. (NEXIS)
