XINJIANG: GOVERNMENT ORGANIZES, EXPORTS UIGHUR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 007518 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2032 TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV ELAB KWMN CH SUBJECT: XINJIANG: GOVERNMENT ORGANIZES, EXPORTS UIGHUR LABOR EAST REF: A. FBIS/OSC CPP20070312706001 ¶B. BEIJING 6233 Classified By: Deputy Political Section Chief Ben Moeling. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Officials in the cities of Kashgar and Urumqi in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) told Poloffs that XUAR authorities created programs to move Uighur laborers from rural Xinjiang to China's booming coastal cities to boost incomes for young workers from southern Xinjiang and "change their old ways of thinking." Some outward migration of rural poor is necessary, according to Beijing Central University for Nationalities (BCUN) anthropologist Yang Shengmin (protect),due to the shortage of arable land in Xinjiang. Rumors are rife in (predominantly Uighur) southern Xinjiang alleging that young Uighur women are being forced to work in factories on China's east coast against their will. One Uighur official acknowledged to Poloff that some residents of southern Xinjiang oppose government programs for moving labor resources because they "want to keep their family members at home." Beijing's International Labor Organization (ILO) representative Kathleen Speake said the ILO supports Government efforts to organize migrant labor, as long as the workers are "willing," on grounds that these programs afford protections to workers (especially women) who might otherwise be trafficked for purposes of forced labor. Poloff confirmed the presence of Uighur female workers in Tianjin in eastern China, but was unable to speak privately to any of the workers. End summary. Xinjiang Officials Claim Programs for Moving Labor Resources Boost Incomes and Decrease Unemployment -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) Mehmet Tursun of the Kasghar City Foreign Affairs Office in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regions (XUAR) told Poloffs that XUAR authorities created programs to move Uighur laborers from rural Xinjiang to China's booming coastal cities to boost incomes for young workers from southern Xinjiang and "change their old ways of thinking." (XUAR) People's Political Consultative Conference (PPCC) member Ehmetjan Hesen cited the same two motives to Poloffs in Urumqi and asserted that the regional Government in Urumqi has spearheaded the program. BCUN anthropologist Yang Shengmin, who has worked closely with American Xinjiang experts, recently told Poloff that arable land in Xinjiang is in such short supply that some outward migration of rural poor from Xinjiang cannot be avoided. ¶3. (C) Official Xinjiang media has publicized efforts by government officials to encourage the movement of migrant laborers from rural areas in Xinjiang to developed areas in China's coastal provinces in order to decrease rural unemployment and spur rural economic development through remittances. A March 22, 2007 television report touted a program arranging for young Uighur women to travel in buses to Tianjin for work in a textile factory. "Labor bureaus of all levels" in southern Xinjiang, the report states, are encouraging "Uighur youth" to find work in the cities, "break through old ways of thinking" and make money. A June 2007 interview in the CCP-sponsored Xinjiang Daily with Guo Jianmin, the mayor of southern Xinjiang's Shule County, takes credit for the fact that 1,400 Uighur rural residents have left Shule County to work in Shandong Province since 2005. ILO Says Programs OK If Workers Are "Willing and Safe" -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Beijing ILO representative Kathleen Speake (protect) told Poloff November 3 that she has seen no evidence from news reports that Chinese Government programs for moving labor from Xinjiang to other parts of China, including the March 2007 television program on Uighur women, involve trafficking in persons, though she acknowledged that a complete assessment is impossible without more information about conditions at the destination factories. Additionally, Speake said that the participants in such programs must be "willing" for the ILO to consider it acceptable. Hesen recently visited a factory employing Uighur women who moved from Xinjiang to Jiangsu Province during a tour arranged by the Central Government. He found that workers earned enough money, about RMB 800 to 1000 (USD 107 to 133) per month, to make remittances to family in Xinjiang. Hesen said that working conditions at the Jiangsu factory were "acceptable" but that some workers who were unable to "adapt to the new environment" quickly returned to Xinjiang. ¶5. (C) Speake stated that Government-organized programs BEIJING 00007518 002 OF 003 encouraging the movement of labor resources to areas where labor is in relatively short supply are not unique to Xinjiang. Such measures are common in the predominantly-Han provinces of central China as well. Regardless of ethnicity, Speake said, "almost all" migrant workers find conditions "less than ideal" when they arrive at factories in the coastal provinces. Illegal withholding of wages, illegal overtime and other injustices are "quite frequent," she said. Nevertheless, the ILO prefers government-arranged programs for moving labor resources, which often begin with agreements between labor bureaus in the sending and receiving provinces, because they discourage trafficking and forced labor by keeping women together in groups. Women who travel alone are more vulnerable to abusive "bosses," who may force them into situations involving severe exploitation and human trafficking, Speake said. Though the ILO is not active in Xinjiang, it assists local governments in Anhui and Hunan Provinces with programs for sending female workers to "labor-receiving" areas in Guangdong and Jiangsu Provinces. Rumors Suggest Workers Are Not "Willing" -------------- ¶6. (C) A Uighur student at Xinjiang Normal University in Urumqi (strictly protect) told Poloff that a friend in her southern Xinjiang hometown of Aksu reported to her the forcing of young Uighur women from rural areas to Tianjin and Shandong against their will. The student emphasized that the alleged practice applied "only to Uighurs," not to other ethnic groups. A Uighur tour guide (strictly protect) who travels to many cities and villages in southern Xinjiang for work, also expressed anger over the supposed practice. He said a family in Yengisar (a small city south of Kashgar) told him the Government threatened fines or even jail time if they did not allow their daughter to join a migrant labor program. Ali said those chosen for the program were as youg as 17. A 17-year-old Uighur girl selling hampoo at the Kashgar grand bazaar told Poloff she has three friends who have been "sent" to the east coast against their will. She said her friends did not want to go because they are "traditional" girls and feel the need to "stay with their families." The tour guide has read stories of abuse endured by the migrants on Uighur-language online forums. Though these stories are hearsay, at the very least, they suggest distrust and opposition to the migrant programs. Official Acknowledges Opposition to Government Programs -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) According to Hesen, authorities "request" poor youths from overwhelmingly Uighur areas in southern Xinjiang, who have not qualified for study at a university, to look outside Xinjiang for work. Hesen noted that some parents oppose government programs for moving labor resources because they "want to keep their family members at home." Some parents actively resist having their children participate in the government programs by sending children of eligible age away from southern Xinjiang or by finding menial work for them. Hesen said that government efforts to "educate" the populace have muted public outcry and assuaged parents' fears. He also maintains that opposition to the policy has come primarily from parents, not the young men and women participating in the programs. ILO's Speake emphasized that young men and women must be "willing" to participate in migrant labor programs for the ILO to consider them legitimate. The Xinjiang Foreign Affairs Office was not able to set up a meeting for Poloffs with the Kashgar Labor Bureau during a December visit. Existence of Uighurs in Tianjin Confirmed, Nothing Else -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) Poloff visited rural Wuqing District of Tianjin Municipality on November 29 and confirmed that there are Uighur workers in these areas. Three young Uighur women from Yarkand, who were working for a company called "Xinghao" in a remote town in Wuqing, told Poloff they had been there for eight months. The women shied away from further conversation before a young Han man interrupted. Poloff also crossed paths with a group of about ten Uighurs, including one male, in Wuqing District's development zone. Two responded that they were from Kasghar. The workers ignored further efforts to engage in conversation, smiling and walking away. COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) Organized Chinese Government-run labor migration programs out of Xinjiang are designed to strengthen long-term ethnic and economic stability in the face of socio-economic trends, such as high population growth in economically underdeveloped regions and increasing income inequality BEIJING 00007518 003 OF 003 between China's east and west, as well as reports of religious extremism (refs A, B). Migrant labor populations are inherently vulnerable, and as ILO points out, State-organized migrant labor programs offer protection unavailable to young women traveling alone. However, distrust in Uighur population of the Chinese Government is deep, and there is a perception among some Uighurs that participation in the program is coerced. As yet, we have not seen credible evidence of abuse or coercion in these programs beyond hearsay and second-hand descriptions of Internet forum postings. RANDT