The University of Sheffield conducted research which surveyed more than 120 Uyghur respondents in Turkey and dozens in the UK, and obtained notes from Chinese police detailing their tactics.
Many of the Uighurs surveyed said they had been threatened by Chinese police or state security officials over the phone while in Turkey, often with retaliation against family in China, or had received threats to their families in Xinjiang.
All of those interviewed said they had been subjected to some form of Chinese surveillance, except for those whose families were already imprisoned, perhaps because the Chinese police believed they could no longer exert pressure on them, and nearly all of them were required to spy on other Uyghurs for the Chinese police.
About six years ago, Beijing began carrying out mass arrests of Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims living in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region amid a crackdown on their religion.
A UN report found ample evidence of abuses that may amount to “crimes against humanity” in the region, although Beijing argues its policies combat extremism and promote development.
At the same time, the Chinese government has expanded its censorship of this Muslim minority beyond its borders, part of a broader phenomenon that academics call “cross-border repression to force people to remain silent on genocides committed in Xinjiang.
