Paper long abstract:

Concentration camps established in the Uighur region, China, have gained growing attention from international community. There have been mounting testimonies provided by members of Uighur diaspora, former detainees, official reports and international media coverage of the camps as well as other findings. Information delivered through these sources indicates that Uighurs' experiences under the Chinese communist regime mirror what is called genocide defined by Limkin, resemble research findings of previous genocides exercised by colonists (Damien, 2016). Yet, there has been no academic analysis on how definitions and examples of genocidal cases discussed by Damien (2016) could be applied to Uighurs' experiences under the authority of Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This paper aims to fill this gap.

Defining CCP as a settler colonial, this paper examines a connection between CCP's colonialism and its genocide of the Uighurs, and explores the genocide by discussing the most context relevant of Lemkin's two techniques of genocide, physical and cultural. It discusses CCP's genocide of the Uighurs is an on-going process: it started, since the occupation of Xinjiang, (named East Turkistan by Uighurs), with implementations of genocide - tendency policies to assimilate Uighurs into Chinese nationality as well as an oppressive regime, under the name of combating terrorism, separatism and extremism, to quick punish any protests, demonstrations by Uighurs, and recently the establishment of the concentration camps to exercise genocide Uighurs at a large scale. This paper challenges the dominant understanding of genocide as mass killing by discussing that forced disappearance, arbitrary detaining, imprisoning, sentencing to death, and organ harvesting have been the approaches of CCP to exercise physical genocide. It also discusses how the cultural genocide are manifested in various ways including banning Uighur language from education, burning Uighur books and detaining Uighur intellectuals, particularly since 2017, which has put the Uighur culture, language, religion, tradition, and art in danger. Further, this paper discusses characteristics of CCP's genocide from three aspects - surveillance, silencing others and staging (to deceive), which have enabled such genocide to possess Chinese communist characteristics.

This paper is based on published and publicly available materials, mainly testimonies, official reports and international media coverage of the Uighur case, with an aim to contribute to contemporary genocide studies from a sociological science prospective.

Paper long abstract:

"China's Harsh Rule in Xinjiang and Uyghur Migration"

China's Xinjiang province, which in Chinese official parlance known as Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an important as well as sensitive region for the country. Its importance from the strategic, economic and security points of view has compelled the Chinese Central government to pay special attention to this northwestern border where it fears internal subversion, especially by Uyghur Muslims who are in majority here, and external threat as well. Hence Chinese Central government has been devising policies, which suit to its idea of national unity and territorial integrity on one hand, but goes against the Uyghur people on the other. This has led to a serious problem between the Uyghurs and the Chinese state. China has termed the problem of separatism, extremism and terrorism as 'Three Evils' and also termed Uyghurs as terrorists, and has taken all possible, even harsher, steps to tackle the situation in Xinjiang. Uyghur left with no options except migrate to neighbor Central Asian countries, Europe and USA etc. In this paper I would highlight how the Chinese Central government's policies ignited Uyghur dissent and compelled them to migrate from Xinjiang to various countries across the world and how the migration of Uyghurs has paved way for further consolidation of Chinese position in Xinjiang. It will also discuss the role of host countries where they have migrated across the world in raising the Uyghur issues; and attitude of China towards the host countries to contain the Uyghur.

This paper will be based on primary sources materials like various statutes, decrees, White Papers and laws passed by the Chinese government and various secondary sources.

Key Words: China, Xinjiang, Uyghur, Migration

Paper long abstract:

In the migration process for Uyghurs, Turkey has become a terminal destination as well as a transit point for other destinations. This paper looks at the issues from an interdisciplinary social science perspective. Uyghurs are the native people in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China (aka. East Turkistan). In 1949, many Uyghur leaders managed to escape from communist Chinese persecution, finally settling in Turkey. Since then, the migration has continued in waves. Because of Turkey's ancestral, historical, linguistic and cultural ties, it has been the most attractive destination for Uyghurs. These days, Turkey hosts about fifty thousand Uyghur refugees and immigrants, but their situations are precarious. In pursuit of work and residence permits, they must deal with various authorities, and many live in constant insecurity, stress and fear. The social and economic integration of the Uyghurs into Turkish society reflects a problem to which policy makers have not yet found a response. Marginalized by the larger society and separated by linguistic differences, and cultural and social life styles, a significant proportion of Uyghurs, especially "newcomers" since the 1980s, are in danger of becoming part of a "parallel society." This is reinforced by exclusion, inferiorization and 'otherness', restricted educational achievements, uncertain citizenship, legal status limbo and a low socioeconomic status. Pro-Uyghur, pro-independence and anti-Chinese government mobilization in Turkey has attracted the attention of Chinese authorities, and this attention has in turn affected and shaped this mobilization. China's strategy and foreign policy in Turkey is firstly determined by its need to consolidate control of "Xinjiang" and restrain the Uyghur independence movement in Turkey. Next in importance is China's trade and economic investments in Turkey, especially its 'One Belt, One Road' initiatives. These are not just increasing its influence; they are making Turkey far more reticent to speak out about Beijing's abuses and oppression in "Xinjiang'. China's geoeconomic strategy has resulted in political influence in Turkey that profoundly affects its Uyghur population. A research project, 2013-2016, and February, 2019 involving interviews with 200 Uyghurs immigrants asking about identity, struggles and dilemmas is the basis for this paper. Qualitative analysis reveals the differing historical and contemporary pathways of Uyghur migration to Turkey. This analytical perspective shows the nature of Uyghur migration to Turkey in shaping the Turkish national project and how these perspectives have been shaped by recent periods of neoliberalism, authoritarianism and globalization.

Paper long abstract:

This study explores the identity reconstruction experiences of the Uyghur immigrants in Canada through the intersection of multiple theoretical lenses, namely identity politics, post-colonialism, critical race theory and "Lost in Translation" (Hoffman, 1989). Methodologically, Critical Narrative Analysis (Souto-manning, 2014)- an organic combination of Critical Discourse Analysis and Narrative Analysis, is used to investigate the discursive formation of Uyghur identity within various Canadian contexts. More specifically, the narratives of 12 participants (six from Quebec, three from British Colombia, two from Ontario, one from Alberta) are studied through thematic analysis, as well as constant comparison method. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted between October 2016-October 2017.

Generally speaking, the findings of this comparative study show both similar and different perspectives and experiences of the Uyghur immigrants living in Quebec and English Canada. In terms of their educational experiences and perspectives, they expressed very common voices over the positive as well as negative influences of the Canadian education system on the Uyghur identity and cultural values. They all began to more deeply value and appreciate their own Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005), while starting to question the Eurocentric cultural capital produced and reproduced in the Canadian education system which they once highly admired. When they all showed dramatically increased consciousness of being Uyghur and Muslim in all Canadian contexts, they felt a significantly deeper sense of being excluded and discriminated in Quebec than in the English provinces. Moreover, there is a possibility that most of them may have internalized or developed an us/Muslim immigrants vs. them/local, white Canadians dichotomy, reflecting the long-existing discourse of Orientalism. But the extent of such a gap may again vary in different provinces, with Quebec exposing a wider and deeper division. At the same time, in English Canada, such a dichotomy seems to be largely cultural rather than political, while in Quebec it appears to be equally political and cultural. In other words, while they unanimously expressed their resistance to the dominant cultures in Canada through highlighting the values and importance of their own cultural wealth, in English provinces their resistance appears to have been unfolding more in the form of "oppositional culture" (Fordham & Ogbu, 1986; Mitchell & Feagin, 1995), which could be quite apolitical (Mansbridge, 2001), yet in Quebec, it may have been manifesting itself at the level of what Mansbridge (2001) calls "oppositional consciousness", which can be significantly political (p. 5).