Matt Schiavenza @ Asia Society: What's Happening in Xinjiang? Four Questions About China's Human Rights Crisis
The one million Uighurs reportedly detained in camps — many for infractions as minor as growing a beard, purchasing a tent, or praying — represent more than 10 percent of their total population in Xinjiang. Their absence has ruptured communities across the area.
"On the streets of villages you can only see very old Uighurs," Gulchehra Hoja, a Uighur journalist who has reported extensively on the camps for Radio Free Asia, told Asia Blog. "Younger men and women are gone. This has greatly damaged Uighur society."