Beijing (AsiaNews) – China has imposed new, stricter travel restrictions on minority ethnic Uyghur Muslims, who live mostly in Xinjiang, China’s westernmost province, where they have been the victims of harsh persecution that often goes unnoticed, this according to Human Rights Watch (HRW),
In a report released yesterday, the international human rights research and advocacy NGO documents systematic violation of Uyghurs’ right to leave the country, an internationally recognised norm.
In particular, Uyghurs are banned from visiting “sensitive countries” with large Muslim populations, like Turkey, and can only travel in small numbers to other Muslim majority countries like Kazakhstan, and only on business.
According to the HRW report, Uyghur Muslims are not allowed to have contact or interaction with activists abroad and are not allowed to speak “critically about the Chinese government”.
Uyghurs who have emigrated but want to visit Xinjiang must inform Chinese authorities of the “purpose of travel" and show an “invitation from a family member”.
A source in the Uyghur community, whose father was questioned on his return from a trip across the border, told HRW that he was asked “whom he met, where he went, and what he told people.”
In the report, this person is quoted as saying: “[W]e did not even go to Uyghur restaurants to avoid attention and China’s surveillance”.
Uyghurs – who are citizens of countries that require a visa to visit China – face a longer application process, up to six months.
According to HRW, participation in non-political activities, such as sending children to Uyghur-language schools or attending a wedding in the presence of activists, can also result in denial of entry.
The report comes at a time that Chinese authorities are starting to allow some Uyghurs to travel outside Xinjiang, years after confiscating passports from some Uyghurs and jailing them for contacting people abroad.
Over the past decade, China has been accused of persecuting Uyghurs (as well as Hui Muslims), including through a campaign of arbitrary detentions, charges China systematically denies, branding it as the “lie of the century”.
According to the United Nations, China, following tighter anti-terrorism measures in 2017, has arrested and detained over a million minority Muslims, mostly Uyghurs.
Chinese authorities have always denied, at least initially, the existence of detention centres for these Uyghurs, and then defends the camps, describing them as “re-education centres”.
Among foreign nations, Turkey has the closest ethno-cultural ties with the Uyghurs and many members of the community, fleeing human rights violations in Xinjiang, found refuge in that country.
However, the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which once harshly slammed China's treatment of the Uyghurs, has recently toned down its criticism, following the development of stronger – and more profitable – economic relations with Beijing.
Some Uyghurs told HRW that Chinese authorities allow only one person from each family to travel, holding their closest relatives "hostage" to ensure their return home.
Some say that the authorities required them to provide a “guarantor” — often another official vouching for them — before granting travel permits or visas.
In addition, failure to comply with the rules puts the guarantor and family members at risk of harsh punishments.
“Uyghurs are facing stringent conditions and requirements if they want to briefly reunite or even just to communicate with family members in China,” said Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“Being able to contact or visit loved ones abroad shouldn’t be a privilege granted to a few Uyghurs but is a right that the Chinese government is obligated to respect,” he added.
