The Muslim minority group is subjected to added scrutiny, while Han Chinese are allowed to move about unchecked.<\/p>\n
2016-08-19<\/p>\n
As China\u2019s ethnic Uyghur Muslim minority group falls under increasing suspicion amid terrorism concerns in the country\u2019s northwest, authorities are fencing off entire neighborhoods in Xinjiang to conduct security checks, Uyghur sources say.<\/p>\n
Construction of the barriers began after deadly ethnic riots ripped through the regional capital Urumqi in July 2009, and fences are now being built across the region, a neighborhood committee worker in Urumqi\u2019s Tengritagh district told RFA\u2019s Uyghur Service.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery neighborhood has a fence now,\u201d RFA\u2019s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have check systems at the gate, but some neighborhoods are stricter and require people to swipe ID cards before they enter,\u201d he said. \u201cOur own neighborhood is more secure, so we have fewer checks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, we have fences in every neighborhood,\u201d a Han Chinese office worker in the Ili River neighborhood of Ili (in Chinese, Yili) prefecture\u2019s Ghulja City told RFA.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe check the IDs of everyone who enters the area,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has been like this for a while now. There is nothing wrong with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only for security,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Yang, a security officer in Urumqi\u2019s Gherbiysay neighborhood, said, \u201cWe check suspicious persons more carefully.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically, we check the Uyghurs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s for security, and [our orders are] very strict. We worry that incidents might happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hardships<\/strong><\/p>\n Contacted by RFA, a Uyghur businessman speaking on condition of anonymity after recently escaping from China said that similar restrictions are now in place across Xinjiang, with fences also being built in the prefectures of Kashgar (Kashi), Aksu (Akesu), and Hotan (Hetian).<\/p>\n \u201cEnclosed neighborhoods are creating hardships in Uyghurs\u2019 daily lives,\u201d another Uyghur living outside Xinjiang said, also speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n \u201cThey cannot get into the neighborhoods without registering their names or leaving their IDs at the security gate, and security personnel constantly come into their homes without permission.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Han Chinese residents of these neighborhoods are left alone, and are never checked at all,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Uyghurs in Xinjiang have long been subject to violent police raids on their households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on their culture and language by Chinese authorities who impose heave-handed rule in the region.<\/p>\n But some experts outside China say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from Uyghur separatists, and that domestic policies are responsible for an upsurge in violence that has left hundreds dead since 2012.<\/p>\n Reported by Gulchehra Hoja for RFA\u2019s Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Richard Finney.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Muslim minority group is subjected to added scrutiny, while Han Chinese are allowed to move about unchecked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-2893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2893"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=2893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}