Report: 20,000 Uyghurs in Idlib including 3,000 fighters

According to the American national public radio station, the Uyghurs numbers who residing in Syria, have increased in recent years, noting that their number is estimated at about 20,000 people, including women and children, according to statements it quoted from prominent figures within the Uighur community in the country.

According to the report, many Uyghurs are seeking to build a stable life inside Syria after years of war and displacement, focusing on preserving their cultural and religious identity and freely practicing their Islamic rituals.

The report indicated that the Uyghur community in northern Syria is no longer limited to military activity, but has gradually moved towards establishing diverse economic and service projects.

These activities include importing cars, operating gas stations, and establishing schools that use the Uyghur language in education.

These steps are seen as an attempt to establish a long-term presence within the areas they inhabit, particularly in Idlib province and the vicinity of Jisr al Shughur city.

The flow of Uyghurs into northern Syria began in 2012 via the Turkish border, after many of them faced legal difficulties in Türkiye, along with fears of being returned to China.

Thousands of Uighur families have settled in rural areas of Idlib and Jisr al Shughur, where they have formed their own population communities during the years of the Syrian war.

According to the report, there are about four thousand Uighur fighters in Syria, more than a thousand of whom were killed during the battles fought by opposition factions against the former Assad regime.

The report also indicated that a number of Uighur fighters had obtained positions within the new military structure following the recent political and military changes in the country.

Sources from the Syrian Ministry of Defense indicate the integration of elements from the “Turkistan Party,” formerly known as the “Turkistan Islamic Movement,” into the formations of the new Syrian army.

The Syrian Ministry of Defense, as reported by the American radio station, confirmed that the presence of Uyghurs in Syria doesn’t represent an internal or external threat, noting that they are committed to the laws and procedures that maintain the country’s security and stability.

The Syrian Ministry of Defense added that integrating these fighters into official institutions helps to control the security situation and prevent them from becoming a source of unrest in the future.

Despite attempts at integration, the issue of foreign fighters in Syria continues to generate widespread controversy within Syrian society, especially in areas that didn’t witness a direct Uighur presence during the years of war.

The report discussed concerns among some religious minorities due to the conservative religious orientations adopted by a segment of the Uyghur community, in addition to issues related to the seizure of homes and property during the conflict.

The radio station also broadcast testimonies from local residents who confirmed that some houses in predominantly Christian and Shiite areas were used by foreign fighters during the war.

The report stated that Uyghur groups have begun in recent months to return some of the properties and homes that were previously seized, following negotiations between the new Syrian government, local leaders, and representatives of Christian denominations.

These steps come as part of efforts to ease social tensions and restore order in war-affected areas.

The Uighur issue represents one of the most prominent challenges in relations between China and Syria, as Beijing views with concern the presence of armed Uighur groups outside its territory.

Earlier, the Syrian Foreign Ministry denied reports that Damascus intended to hand over Uighur fighters to Chinese authorities, after foreign media circulated information about a possible agreement in this regard.

The Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group living mainly in the Xinjiang region of northwest China, which some activists refer to as East Turkestan.

The East Turkestan Islamic Movement was founded in the 1990s, and its name was later associated with a number of armed organizations in the region, including the Taliban and al Qaeda.

The US Treasury Department had designated the movement a terrorist organization in 2002 before removing the designation in 2020.

The Uyghurs speak a language belonging to the Turkic family, which helped many of them to settle temporarily in Türkiye before later moving to Syrian territory.