Beijing [China] February 26 (ANI): Over 20 Uyghur educators at a college in Xinjiang were detained by Chinese officials in 2017 and are still serving their sentences, Radio Free Asia reported citing college officials.

Their detainment took place eight years ago when authorities in the northwestern region began a sweeping crackdown on Uyghur scholars, teachers, business leaders, and cultural figures, sending many to re-education camps as part of efforts to combat what China termed terrorism and religious extremism, the report stated.

A recent RFA Uyghur report noted that historian Ghojaniyaz Yollugh Tekin, 59, who was employed at the Aksu Education Institute in the city of Aksu, was arrested in 2017 and given a 17-year prison sentence in late 2018 due to his research, writings, and beliefs that consider Uyghurs as part of the Turkic world rather than Chinese.

Further investigation by RFA uncovered that 25 additional educators from the same institution were also detained in 2017.

Founded in 1985, the college currently employs around 220 staff members, with more than half being Uyghurs, and has an enrollment of 3,000 students, RFA reported.

During the early 2000s, the number of Uyghur teachers was estimated to be between 100 and 150, as noted by Uyghur activist Tuyghun Abduweli, who is originally from Aksu but now resides in Canada, as stated by the report.

An individual associated with the institute, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons, remarked that in 2017, over 20 teachers from the school were taken away in multiple groups.

According to the RFA report, the cases against them were initiated by security agents from the Aksu prefecture, with the institute's political affairs department and local police collaborating during the arrests and interrogations, according to the individual.

The situation regarding China's Uyghur population, primarily based in Xinjiang, has drawn significant international attention. Reports indicate widespread human rights abuses, including forced labour, arbitrary detentions in so-called 're-education' camps, and surveillance. (ANI)