China has claimed that it has arrested near around 13,000 terrorists in the traditionally Islamic nation of Xinjiang over the last five years.
The figure was comprised in a government report on the condition in the restive northwestern territory which strives to respond to rising criticism over the imprisonment of an assessed 1 million members of Uighur and other majorly Muslim ethnic groups.
China has defined the internment camps as vocational training centers and told the participation is voluntary.
Former prisoners, however, told that they were detained in abusive conditions. The report issued on last Monday also stated the “law-based de-radicalization” in Xinjiang has cramped the spread and rise of the religious extremism.
The report says that, with the arrested terrorists and their gangs, near around 30,000 people were penalized for their participation in “illegal religious activities.”
The Chinese government has 4 years tried to defeat pro-independence sentiments in Xinjiang. Such opinions raised highly over the years, as the china government moved huge Han Chinese migrants in the country.
Despite the countries’ cultural, religious, and linguistic differences, China says Xinjiang has been Chinese territory from the earliest time.
Patrick Poon, Chinese Researcher for Amnesty International stated, “The report does not describe ‘extremism’ or ‘terrorism’, he reported, in part, aid the government charge and detain anyone for any purpose.”
“The report stated that China is worried regarding its international image,” said Maya Wang, senior China researcher for Human Rights Watch.