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Outbreak of Demonstrations by Uyghurs
Over 150 people died in clashes in Xinjiang, the Chinese blamed the Uyghurs. (NBC News, 2009)
Image (Brown, 2009) -
6 Uyghurs are alleged to have hijacked a plane
Official Chinese media reports that a plane has been hijacked by 6 Uyghurs but Human Rights Watch stresses that the incident should be viewed with “Extreme Caution”. (Human Rights Watch 2012)
Image (Al Jazeera, 2012) -
Urumqi attack
Uyghur separatists commit attack in Xinjang which China calls acts of terrorism. (BBC, 2014)
Image (BBC, 2014) -
Assimilation of the Uyghurs in Han Chinese society began
The Xinjiang government enacted a law that prohibits
“expressions of extremification” and made restrictions on clothing, traditional customs and Islamic dietary laws. Thousands of
mosques in Xinjiang have been closed or demolished and the government has put nearly half a million Uyghur children in boarding schools, and has banned the Uyghur language in the schools. (Congressional Research Service 2023) -
The beginning of the “re education camps”
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Period: to
XUAR authorities detained over 1 million Uyghur and Muslim people
in reeducation centers. Detainees were not accused of real crimes but were called “extremist,” “pre-criminal,” or potentially terrorist. Treatment in the centers reportedly included food. Detainees were compelled to renounce their Islamic beliefs and customs for their release. The detainees experienced food deprivation, psychological pressure, sexual abuse, medical neglect, torture, and forced labor. Leaked Xinjiang police files revealed that the “reeducation” centres were more like prisons. -
The Government Begins Releasing Uyghurs
The XUAR government released some detainees but also prosecuted many as criminals, and
sent some to do factory labour. Political indoctrination continues in their homes and factories. Some reeducation centres have been converted in to prisons along with new prisons being built. (Congressional Research Service, 2023) -
The Uyghurs Human Rights Policy Act (P.L. 116-145)
Signed by Trump, the former US President, on June 17, 2020. The act is supposed to impose sanctions on PRC officials responsible for the human rights violations against the Uyghurs and other minority groups in Xinjiang. It included the U.S. efforts to protect Uyghurs residing in the United States from the PRC governments harassment or intimidation. -
The US calls it genocide
The United States announces that the Peoples Republic of China has committed “Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide in Xinjang” (Congressional Research Service, 2023) -
The United Nations releases report
The UN released a report calling chinas actions “crimes against humanity”.