Who are the Uyghurs?

They are a mostly Muslim ethnic group located in the Xinjiang region, which was formally known as the East Turkestan before it was annexed by China in 1949. They make up around 11 million people.

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• What's happening?

China has detained up to a million Uyghurs over the past couple of years, forcing them into internment camps which the Chinese government later called "re-education centers". Members of this Muslim minority say they were detained, beaten, and interrogated because of their religion in these camps.

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The Xinjian government had passed many anti-Islamic laws that prohibit Muslims from practicing their religion. For example, women were not allowed to wear veils, and men not allowed to grow their beards. In 2014, University students in Xinjiang told the BBC that they were banned from fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and reports from the region say Uighur local government officials have been banned from fasting or attending mosques.

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