China is putting pressure on Pakistan to trace and return about 2000 Uighur Muslim families who have fled China’s Xinjiang province to avoid prosecution.
The Uighur families, who have fled China, have mixed up with other Uighur families who have been living in Pakistan for the last 50-60 years.
Pakistan is too dependent on China to defy any ‘request’ from the Chinese authorities.
And the One Belt One Road initiative has added a lot of additional economic burden on Pakistan.
China has been running many isolation camps in Xinjiang to make Uighur muslims more Chinese.
Many families flee Xinjiang province to escape the Chinese torture. Some take shelter in neighbouring Pakistan.
China fears the escaped Uighur Muslims will join the East Turkestan Independence Movement (ETIM). It is fighting for an independent Uighur Muslim state.
It recently asked Turkey also to return the Uighur Muslims who have been living in Turkey.
