Uyghur Rights Abuse | 03 Sep 2022

Why in News?

Recently, according to a report by United Nations, China is conducting serious human rights violations against Uyghurs that may amount to crimes against humanity.

What are the Key Highlights of the Report?

  • Persecution of Uyghurs:
    • The report accuses China of sweeping a million or more people from minority groups into detention camps where many have said they were tortured, sexually assaulted, and forced to abandon their language and religion.
    • Ruthless campaign:
      • There is a ruthless campaign against extremism in the far western province of Xinjiang that also included draconian birth control policies and all-encompassing restrictions on people’s movement.
  • Set-up Independent International Body:
    • Human rights groups renewed calls for the UN Human Rights Council, to set up an independent international body to investigate the allegations.

Who are Uyghurs?

  • About:
    • The Uyghurs are a predominantly Muslim minority Turkic ethnic group, whose origins can be traced to Central and East Asia.
      • The Uyghurs speak their own language, similar to Turkish, and see themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations.
    • The Uyghurs are considered to be one of the 55 officially recognized ethnic minority communities in China.
      • However, China recognizes the community only as a regional minority and rejects that they are an indigenous group.
    • Currently, the largest population of the Uyghur ethnic community lives in the Xinjiang region of China.
      • A significant population of Uyghurs also lives in the neighbouring Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
        • Xinjiang is technically an autonomous region within China — its largest region, rich in minerals, and sharing borders with eight countries, including India, Pakistan, Russia and Afghanistan.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Q. Consider the following pairs: (2016)

Community sometimes in the affairs of mentioned in the news

  1. Kurd — Bangladesh
  2. Madhesi — Nepal
  3. Rohingya — Myanmar

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1 and 2

(b) 2 only

(c) 2 and 3

(d) 3 only

Ans: (c)

  • Kurd: They are one of the indigenous peoples of the Mesopotamian plains and the highlands in what are now South-eastern Turkey, North-eastern Syria, northern Iraq, North-western Iran and South-western Armenia. They also adhere to a number of different religions and creeds, although the majority is Sunni Muslims. Hence, pair 1 is not correctly matched.
  • Madhesi: It is an ethnic group living mainly in thesouthern plains of Nepal, close to the border with India. Madhesis are predominantly Hindus with some Muslims and Christians. Hence, pair 2 is correctly matched.
  • Rohingya: They are an ethnic group, largely comprising Muslims, who predominantly live in the Western Myanmar province of Rakhine. They speak a dialect of Bengali, as opposed to the commonly spoken Burmese language. According to Myanmar authorities, they are not the authorized citizens of the country. Hence, pair 3 is correctly matched.Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

Source: IE