Uyghurs
Turkic ethnic group of Central Asia and East Asia
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We include updates on Xinjiang internment camps, Xinjiang conflict, Hotan, Hasan Mahsum, History of Xinjiang, Kumul Khanate, Abdul Haq al-Turkistani, Western Yugur language, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, Yunus Khan, Old Uyghur, Maqsud Shah, Islam Akhun, Jahangir Khoja, Uyghurlar, Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan ... and more.
| 2024 |
Hotan
Hotan was identified as one of the world's 20 most polluted cities according to the World Air Quality Report 2024.
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| August 2022 | Bachelet released a report concluding that the detention of Uyghurs and Muslim minorities in Xinjiang since 2017 may constitute international crimes, particularly crimes against humanity. |
| June 2022 | Michelle Bachelet announced her resignation as UN human rights chief following criticism from Uyghur organizations. |
| May 2022 | UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet met with Xinjiang officials to discuss concerns about counter-terrorism and de-radicalization measures. |
| 2021 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Chen Quanguo's leadership of internment camp operations ends after overseeing the detention of hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.
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| 2021 | Shirzat Bawudun (former head of Xinjiang justice department) and Sattar Sawut (former head of Xinjiang education department) were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on separatism and bribery charges. Three other educators were simultaneously sentenced to life in prison. |
| 2021 | Amnesty International released a 160-page report documenting human rights violations in Xinjiang, including extensive biometric data collection and surveillance of Uyghurs. PBS Frontline estimated nearly two million Uyghurs detained across over 12,000 camps. |
| 2021 | A genomic study is published revealing that early Tarim Basin mummies had high levels of Ancient North Eurasian ancestry (72%) and Ancient Northeast Asian ancestry (28%), challenging previous theories about their origins. |
| October 2020 | The U.S. State Department lifted the terrorist organization designation for the group. |
| September 2020 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Australian Strategic Policy Institute reports that construction of internment camps continues, despite government claims of winding down operations.
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| July 2020 | A group of 45 nations issued a competing letter defending China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. |
| June 2020 | At the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council, 39 countries condemned China's treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. |
| June 17 2020 | President Donald Trump signed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act into law, enabling potential sanctions against Xinjiang Communist Party Secretary Chen Quanguo under the Global Magnitsky Act. |
| 2019 | A Japanese comic book 'What Has Happened to Me – A Testimony of a Uyghur Woman', illustrated by Tomomi Shimizu and based on Tursun's story, became a viral hit on the Internet. |
| 2019 | The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China publicly denies Tursun's allegations about her detention and treatment in Xinjiang internment camps. |
| 2019 |
Hotan
The demolition of the Sultanim Cemetery was completed, with the western part of the land turned into a parking lot.
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| 2019 | Xinjiang birth rates continued to decline, falling nearly 24% compared to a nationwide decline of only 4.2%. |
| December 2019 | A second documentary about the Xinjiang conflict and internment camps was broadcast by Chinese state media, again provoking varied responses on Chinese social media. |
| December 2019 | United States House of Representatives passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, further advancing legislative action against human rights violations in Xinjiang. |
| November 2019 |
Xinjiang
Adrian Zenz estimates that the number of internment camps in Xinjiang has surpassed 1,000.
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| November 2019 |
Xinjiang
George Friedman estimates that 1 in 10 Uyghurs are being detained in internment camps.
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| October 2019 | 23 countries issued a joint statement at the UN urging China to respect human rights and uphold its national and international obligations. |
| September 2019 | United States Senate passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, addressing human rights concerns in Xinjiang. |
| July 2019 |
Xinjiang
Independent researcher Adrian Zenz estimates an upper speculative limit of 1.5 million people detained in Xinjiang internment camps.
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| July 2019 | 22 countries issued a joint letter to the UN Human Rights Council condemning China's mass detention of Uyghurs and other minorities, calling for China to refrain from arbitrary detention and movement restrictions. |
| 2018 |
Xinjiang internment camps
State Ethnic Affairs Commission and State Administration for Religious Affairs were placed under the CCP's United Front Work Department, accelerating the 'Sinicization' of ethnic and religious minorities.
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| 2018 |
Hotan
The historical Sultanim Cemetery in central Hotan began to be demolished.
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| 2018 | Chinese officials acknowledged a nearly one-third drop in birth rates in Xinjiang, though they denied reports of forced sterilization. |
| 2018 | Dismissed from his job and underwent over 70 days of heart surgery in hospital. |
| 2018 | Associated Press reports significant decline in birth rates in predominantly Uyghur regions of Hotan and Kashgar, falling by more than 60% between 2015 and 2018. |
| 2018 | A genetic study of 206 Uyghur samples found their average genetic ancestry to be 63.7% East Asian-related and 36.3% European-related. |
| December 2018 | Tursun received the Citizen Power Award for her advocacy and testimony about her experiences in Chinese internment camps. |
| November 2018 | Went missing from the Xinjiang region, marking a significant and concerning turn in his life. |
| November 28 2018 | Tursun testified before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, detailing her experience of three internments, describing overcrowded cells where prisoners had to rotate sleeping positions and some had not showered for over a year. |
| November 26 2018 | Mihrigul Tursun gave testimony at National Press Club in Washington, DC, claiming detainees in internment camps are beaten, starved, electrocuted, and strip-searched. |
| November 2 2018 | Adil Mijit lost contact with his family, believed to be connected to his unauthorized pilgrimage to Mecca two years prior. |
| October 2018 | Chinese state media aired a documentary about the Xinjiang conflict and internment camps, which generated mixed reactions on Chinese social media platforms. |
| September 2018 | Mihrigul Tursun immigrated to the United States with her two remaining children. |
| August 2018 |
Xinjiang
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination receives credible reports of 1 million ethnic Uyghurs held in internment camps, as reported by US representative Gay McDougall.
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| May 2018 |
Xinjiang
US Assistant Secretary of Defense Randall Schriver reports that between 1-3 million citizens are imprisoned in detention centers, describing them as 'concentration camps'.
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| April 2018 | Tursun left China with her husband (an Egyptian) and children, returning to Egypt. |
| January 2018 | Tursun was detained for a third time by Chinese authorities. |
| 2017 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Xinjiang internment camps are established under the administration of CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, marking the beginning of large-scale detention of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.
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| 2017 | Standard rural birth limits were applied to Uyghurs, restricting their allowed births to the same standard as Han Chinese. |
| 2017 | Overseas Uyghur activists reported intensified restrictions, including heavy fines for refusing to eat during Ramadan, detention of Uyghurs returning from Mecca, banning of Muslim names, and the 'Pair Up and Become Family' program where Han officials were assigned to live in homes of interned Uyghurs. |
| 2017 | Chinese authorities began systematically destroying or damaging mosques in Xinjiang, with approximately 16,000 mosques targeted by 2020. |
| 2017 | Australian Strategic Policy Institute estimates that approximately sixteen thousand mosques have been razed or damaged since this year. |
| 2017 | Human Rights Watch reports that internment camps begin being used to indoctrinate Uyghurs and other Muslims, with an estimated one million Uyghurs arbitrarily detained. |
| 2017 | An extensive genome study analyzing 951 Uyghur samples identified four major ancestral components, suggesting at least two major admixture waves: one around 3,750 years ago and another around 750 years ago. |
| 2017 | Establishment of Xinjiang internment camps, with an estimated one million Uyghurs arbitrarily detained under Xi Jinping's administration |
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Xinjiang conflict, Hotan, Mihrigul Tursun, History of Xinjiang, Adil Mijit, Uyghurs & Xinjiang internment camps, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.