Xinhua News Agency
Authorities in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) have relocated more than 1,400 Uyghurs from an ancient desert village, citing destitution and “backwardness,” but experts say the move was made to assimilate torchbearers of traditional Uyghur culture and appropriate local resources.
According to a Dec. 1 report by the official People’s Daily Online news outlet, authorities recently completed the resettlement of the population of Deraboyi (in Chinese, Daliyaboyixiang) village, in Hotan (Hetian) prefecture’s Keriye (Yutian) county, as part of a “poverty alleviation” program.
The 364 Uyghur families comprised of 1,404 people were moved in two groups between 2017 and 2019, the report said. When the final group left, they were resettled in a newly established “poverty alleviation district” located 91 kilometers (57 miles) away from their home village.