The foreign fighters from China that played a key role in Syria’s revolution

About this episode

This episode explores the role of Uyghurs in the Syrian civil war and the implications of their involvement.

Uyghurs are a mostly Muslim ethnic minority in China, that number in the millions. Human rights groups have accused China of persecuting Uyghurs because the government fears they have played a role in militant attacks. In today’s episode we hear the story of thousands of Uyghurs who travelled to Syria to gain battlefield experience fighting in the Syrian civil war. Are these people freedom fighters? Or are they the now battle-hardened militants China always feared? This story was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. You can read more of this reporting at NPR.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

People in this episode

Host: NPR

Topics covered

• Uyghurs
• Syria
• civil war
• militant attacks
• human rights
• ethnic minorities

Keywords

• Uyghurs
• China
• Syria
• civil war
• militants
• human rights
• ethnic minority

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NPR, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Places: China, Syria

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