'Missing' Uygurs found living a normal life or simply non-existent
In media reports or social media posts about "missing persons", overseas Uyghurs tell stories about their "families" and "friends" in Xinjiang who have "lost contact" or "gone missing".
Full of ignorance of and bias against China, some people from the US and other Western countries have recently made groundless accusations against and disseminated many fallacies about China's human rights conditions concerning Xinjiang.
Here is one of the rumors they spread, and the fact.
Rumor: In media reports or social media posts about "missing persons", overseas Uyghurs tell stories about their "families" and "friends" in Xinjiang who have "lost contact" or "gone missing".
Fact:
- Xinjiang has never curtailed the freedom of travel of Uyghur people or people of any other ethnic groups. Nor is there any restriction on communication with relatives abroad.
- It has been verified by the relevant authorities that the so-called "missing persons" mentioned by overseas East Turkistan elements are either living a normal life or simply non-existent.
In an ABC News (Australia) report, Azmat Omar, a Chinese citizen living in Australia, claimed that he had lost contact with his family members in Xinjiang, including his father, stepmother, three brothers, two sisters and over 20 nephews. It later became clear that all his family members in China are living normal lives and enjoy full personal freedoms.
During a UN Human Rights Council session in February 2020, the World Uyghur Congress put up photos of the so-called "Uyghurs persecuted by the Chinese government" in the square with the Broken Chair in front of the Palace of Nations in Geneva. The photos have proved to be fake. Separatist groups got hold of the pictures and personal information of Uyghur officials and residents living normal lives in Xinjiang and misrepresented them to spread rumors.
