China claims most Muslim detainees have been released from Xinjiang camps
- ‘Most of them have completed their study and found new jobs,’ according to regional government official
- But researcher says they have been sent to do compulsory work in what appears to be a new scheme to exercise control over ethnic minorities
Alken Tuniaz, vice-chairman of the Xinjiang government, made the claim at a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday, when he was asked to give an account of the detainees in camps where United Nations experts have said more than 1 million ethnic Uygurs and other Muslim minorities were being held.
“You asked about the number of people, but the situation in the centres is fluid as the people come and go. Most of them have completed their study and found new jobs,” Tuniaz said.
Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the regional government, said about 90 per cent of the people who had been “educated” at the “training centres” and released had found suitable jobs.
In the past two years, Xinjiang officials have repeatedly sidestepped questions about how many Uygurs were being held in what they call “training centres”.