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
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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
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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"
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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

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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
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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
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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

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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