dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

Ethnic and Religious Discrimination in East Turkistan / Ahmet Faruk UnsalHui people. Despite the religious ties between them, the Hui and the Uyghurhave a very tentative relationship. The Chinese administration is fuelling upthis disengagement by positively discriminating in favour of the Hui people inMuslim public offices; as a result, the Hui, satisfied with the restricted freedomthat has been granted them, have abandoned the Uyghur Turks in their demandfor rights and liberties. This makes things easier for the Chinese. However, whenthe Uyghur people, abandoned in their rightful cause, establish connections withpeople in neighbouring countries to the west, people with whom they share alanguage, then their justified demands are regarded as part of “an operation ofexternal forces”.The presence of the Hui people has been accepted by the Uyghur people.However, under the settlement policy the Chinese Government has settled theBuddhist Han Chinese in the region and this is the main cause of the conflict.The Beijing administration, understanding the importance of the region, isattempting to change the demographic structure of the region through suchsettlement policies. According to official figures, the population of Uyghur Turksin the region is almost equal to that of the Han Chinese. The population of theHan Chinese is growing, on average, 8% annually. In the 1980s the populationgrowth rate reached incredible rates, for example as much as twenty-six times.Thus, the Uyghur population which used make up 75% of the total populationin the region before assimilation efforts were initiated in 1950s, is today half ofwhat it used to be.Another part of the assimilation policy implemented by the Chineseadministration is the massive emigration of Uyghur Turks from the regionthrough resettlement or exile. China, in an effort to maintain a demographicmajority and to increase the ethnic population density in the region, has appliedvarious methods to attain this end. One of these methods is that Uyghur childrenare being transferred to inner regions of China for assimilation under a programcalled “Xinjiang Classes”. In addition, since 2003 people have been transferredto inner parts of China, in particular the younger population, to be assimilatedunder a policy called “Transferring Excessive Labour Force to Other Regions”.In general, Uyghur girls are selected for such transfers and they are encouraged towork in underground industries in order to survive in these new settlement areas.441