China pushes the ‘Sinicization of religion’ in Xinjiang, targeting Uyghurs

May 22, 2022

Chinese authorities have detained more than 1,000 imams and clerics for their association with religious teaching and community leadership since 2014, according to a May 2021 report titled “Islam Dispossessed: China’s Persecution of Uyghur Imams and Religious Figures” issued by the U.S.-based Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP).

Since about 2017, up to 16,000 mosques, or roughly 65%, of all mosques have been destroyed or damaged as a result of government policies, according to the UHRP. About 30% of Islamic sacred sites such as shrines, cemeteries and pilgrimage routes have been demolished and another 28% damaged or altered.

Read the full article: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/sinicization-religion-05202022133914.html