Here's a summary of Uyghur-related news around the world:
Thailand urged not to deport Uyghurs back to China
Rights groups in Thailand urged the government not to extradite Uyghurs to China. Some 50 Uyghur refugees have been held in detention centers in Thailand since fleeing China in 2014. In 2015, Thailand sent 109 Uyghurs to China and 173 to Turkey.
Leaked speeches show Beijing efforts to forcefully assimilate Uyghurs
Classified speeches leaked in a recent trove of documents called the Xinjiang Police Files demonstrate that the Chinese government coordinated a plan to assimilate Uyghurs by force, describing them as an "enemy class" whose culture and traditions must die for the country to survive.
Amnesty International: Trial reveals Beijing's latest strategy to unlawfully jail Muslims
Zulyar Yasin, a Uyghur university student whom Chinese authorities arrested in December in Xinjiang, will be sentenced up to five years in jail, Amnesty International learned from Yasin's aunt in the Netherlands.
News in brief
Some global companies could be "unknowingly supporting" China's use of Uyghur forced labor from the Xinjiang region, according to a report by the Washington-based nonprofit Center for Advanced Defense Studies, "Shifting Gears: The Rise of Industrial Transfer Into the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region."
According to the report, the corporate connections of many products are intentionally obscured by a Chinese policy that encourages companies located elsewhere in the country to open operations or manufacturing centers in Xinjiang.
The report says that can make it harder to track where products come from, and that businesses that source from companies headquartered in other Chinese cities may unknowingly be importing goods produced by forced labor in Xinjiang.
Quote of note
"The police do not have any evidence for his so-called crime. There is no law in China — Uyghurs are being targeted and detained for fake sins. I am broken."
— Zulyar Yasin's aunt, who was informed that Chinese authorities will sentence her nephew to up to five years in jail.
