Kazakhstan is a “dangerous country”. Why Nur-Sultan cannot protect those who fled from Xinjiang

Kazakhs originally from China holding a picket at the country’s consulate in Almaty and demanding the release of their relatives, who are in custody in Xinjiang or being prevented from leaving for Kazakhstan.

Despite seeking asylum in Kazakhstan, refugees from Xinjiang also consider the country dangerous. Ethnic Kazakhs and Uyghurs do not stay in Kazakhstan for long and look for ways to leave.

Prominent businessman, survivor of Xinjiang’s mass incarcerations, given 8 years in Kazakhstan

Esbol Muqamadan (second from right), at an event with the former head of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Esbol Muqamadan, a successful Kazakh entrepreneur and previously a victim of the mass incarcerations in Xinjiang, is now serving an eight-year prison sentence in his historical homeland – a verdict that he claims is partially due to political interference by the Chinese authorities.

Two years of being illegally locked up in Xinjiang “education-and-training centers”

An artistic rendition of camp authorities and police burning objects used by previous detainees, as described by the author.

The erasing of traces began. A large pit was dug with an excavator, then many plastic bags were brought in, bulging with stuff, and thrown into the pit, to burn for a long while. Public security vehicles were on the scene to supervise the process.

A review of pre-trial detention centers in Xinjiang: I. Role in the overall detention system

A drone view of the Hotan County Pre-Trial Detention Center.

The large-scale advent and use of camps between 2017 and 2019 gave pre-trial detention centers in Xinjiang additional functions. Instead of just being a precursor to formal prison, the detention center was often a temporary holding facility for those later transferred to camp.

Lives lost: Xinjiang-related violence vs. mass incarceration (in numbers)

Police station following an attack on June 26, 2013, in Pichan County's Lukchun Municipality.

This page seeks to maintain a detailed list of all the known violent incidents related to Xinjiang since 2000, and to calculate how the resulting death toll compares to the equivalent death toll from mass incarceration.

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Categorized as Analysis

“The oppressive system aside, I forgave all who could be called human.”

Abduweli Ayup (third from left) with friends in Kashgar in August 2015, not long before his departure from the country. Many of them, including entrepreneur Ekber Eset (third from right), filmmaker Abdurehim Ablethan (second from left), and Alimjan (first from left), have since been taken.

A detailed summary of Abduweli Ayup’s memoir, “Mehbus Rohlar” (“Imprisoned Spirits”), which details his 458 days in pre-trial detention.