UPI en Español  |   UPI Asia  |   About UPI  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Migrants return to Western China

|
 
Published: Aug. 21, 2009 at 9:49 PM

URUMQI, China, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- The first wave of migrant workers since last month's deadly riots journeyed to Xinjiang region of China to pick cotton, a state news agency said.

Most of the workers are ethnic Han, the dominant Chinese ethnic group, Xinhua reported.

But the western region of Xinjiang is predominantly Uighur, a Turkic-speaking Sunni Muslim group.

In July, the Uighurs rioted in the streets of the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi in the deadliest ethnic violence in China in years. Nearly 200 people reportedly died, and 1,721 were injured in clashes between the majority Han Chinese and Muslim Uighurs. Most of the victims were civilian Han, state news organizations reported.

Uighurs questioned why companies in Xinjiang, including large, government-run farms, employ many Han migrants when there is high unemployment among Uighurs.

Han have been moving into the area, though the Uighur are still the largest ethnic group.

The Xinhua report of the workers' return may bolster the government's claim that they feel safe enough to come back because harmony has been restored, The New York Times reported.

Ethnic tensions have simmered for years in the Xinjiang region, which is near Afghanistan and Pakistan.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
'Star Trek Into Darkness' screening NBC upfronts Met Ball 2013
'Great Gatsby' premieres in New York Spire raised on top of One WTC 2013: Celebrity break ups and divorces
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 17
Alessandra Ambrosio attends the "Monsters University" premiere with their sons in Los Angeles
View Caption
Brazilan model Alessandra Corine Ambrosio attends the premiere of the animated motion picture comedy "Monsters University", at the El Capitan Theatre in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles on June 17, 2013. UPI/Jim Ruymen
fark
From "Oh no he didn't" & "Oh yes he did" to "My hair is a nest, your argument is invalid" it's this...
We'll never have flying cars until we have flying bikes .. and that time has come thanks to two...
Multiple explosions at Russian ammunition depot, possibly dozens injured and 6,000 evacuated. w/vids...
Photoshop this woman and her ursine companion
FBI says the snooping prevented a bomb plot on Wall Street. Wait, that would have been bad?
Indian court solves premarital sex issue, rules any couple sleeping together is married. Next up?...