WASHINGTON — 

According to China's 2020 census, more than 11 million Uyghurs live in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, accounting for about 45 percent of the region's total population of 25 million residents.

The U.N. human rights office said last August that China had committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. Some countries, including the United States, have characterized China's mistreatment of Uyghurs as genocide. China strongly denies the allegation.

Voice of America interviewed a Uighur who left China in recent weeks about his experience living in Xinjiang in 2022. He asked that his real name not be used to protect family members still living in Xinjiang.

Voice of America reporter: The UN report on Xinjiang says that China restricts the free movement of the Muslim population in Xinjiang and confiscates the passports of Uighurs and other Muslim-majority minorities. Is this true?

Jamal (pseudonym): Yes, this is reality. The Uyghurs, (the Chinese government) started confiscating passports six years ago in 2016, and we had to hand over the passports to the national security department of the police station. They said they would keep our passports and if we needed to go abroad they would hand them over to us. That promise was not fulfilled. The first priority of China’s passport policy for Xinjiang is to keep no one out and keep everyone inside. So no one [Uyghur] is free to go abroad. The government policy is very clear that they will not issue new passports to Uyghurs.

Voice of America reporter: What is the government's passport policy for Han Chinese in Xinjiang?

Jan you tell us what procedure you went through to get a passport to go abroad?amal: They have more freedom to get their passports back. Recently, however, I heard from some Han Chinese in Xinjiang that the Chinese authorities make it more difficult for them to apply for passports than Han Chinese living in other parts of China. I have also heard that Han Chinese who hold government positions in the area are also required to surrender their passports to the authorities.

VOA reporter: If the government policy is not to return old passports or issue new passports to Uyghurs, how can you go abroad with a valid Chinese passport?

Jamal: My spouse is a foreign citizen. I have been trying for years and all the red tape to get my passport. The authorities were forced to return my passport because my spouse is a foreigner. I think this is the most important factor for me to be able to get my passport back.

VOA reporter: 

Jamal: The first step is they (the police) check the background of you and each of your family members on the Integrated Joint Operations Platform (“Integrated Platform”). If you and your family are clear on that system, I mean if they don't find anyone convicted, jailed, or have any history of re-education, then they'll make you wait for the Chief of Police to make a final decision on whether to return your passport. Finally, if the decision is positive, they will return your passport. But that doesn't mean you can use that passport to go abroad. Any Uyghur passport holder must present a consent document from Xinjiang authorities at customs. If an Uyghur has a valid Chinese passport and a visa to a country, but no government consent documents, they won't let you transit. When you show your Chinese ID card, passport, and consent documents to the customs officers, they will take you to a place specially designated for Uyghurs, and then call the public security organs in Xinjiang to have the documents authenticated. If the Xinjiang police confirm it, the customs will let you go.

In Xinjiang, the Chinese government uses an all-in-one platform surveillance app that “aggregates data—from people’s blood type and height to information on their electricity usage and package deliveries—and alerts them when Authorities" It considers someone or something suspicious. Human Rights Watch said the integrated platform is one of the main systems Chinese authorities use to conduct mass surveillance in Xinjiang.

Voice of America reporter: What is it like to be a Uighur in Xinjiang in 2022?

Jamal: In 2022, some Uyghurs released from re-education camps will be transferred to work in factories in Xinjiang or in mainland China. Due to past history and discrimination by the government, those who were not transferred to factories had difficulty finding jobs. Government workers receiving re-education are not allowed to return to their original posts. For example, a literature professor I know is currently sitting in the monitoring room on campus as a security guard. Some were never released from the re-education camps and were instead jailed. Another trend in Xinjiang in 2022 is that the Chinese government has never stopped arbitrarily arresting Uyghurs and has even started re-arresting Uyghurs who have undergone re-education in the past. I know a friend who is a lecturer at a university. He was arrested twice before 2022 and was arrested for the third time in the spring of 2022, and his family has never heard from him since. If I sum up the life of Uyghurs in Xinjiang in 2022, it is the normalization of a combination of fear and despair.

VOA reporter: What else do you think the world should know about what will happen to the Uighurs in Xinjiang in 2022?

Jamal: One thing the world should know is that in May 2022, when Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, was visiting the region, I was in Urumqi and witnessed the government to find out Some asymptomatic COVID-19 cases were used as an excuse to lock down the city's Uyghur-majority Tianshan district. They unblocked the area after Michelle Bachelet left China. A government official neighbor of mine told me that the reason for the blockade of Tianshan District in May was that the government did not want Uyghurs to move freely during Bachelet’s visit to the city.

From May 23 to 28, 2022, Bachelet went to Urumqi and Kashgar in Xinjiang during his visit to China.

Voice of America reporter: For the Han Chinese, what is their life like in Xinjiang?

Jamal: If many Uyghurs want to go to Xinjiang and other parts of China, they will encounter many obstacles. They must first obtain permission from the authorities. Compared with Uyghurs, Kazakhs, or other locals, Han Chinese can move freely. Their movements are not restricted. Recently, under the zero-clearing policy, some Han people in Xinjiang have also begun to feel and say that their freedom of movement has begun to be restricted.