Read RFA coverage of this story in Uyghur.
Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have shut down what they deemed illegal water wells dug by Uyghur farmers in three villages on the edge of a vast desert, according to local officials and videos seen by Radio Free Asia.
Those wishing to dig wells are usually required to obtain permits, but no permits were issued to the farmers, and there were no restrictions on building wells on the land, according to speakers in the videos.
The villages, which includes one named Achchiq, are located in Yopurgha county, part of Kashgar prefecture. Nearly all residents in the county, which lies on the western edge of the Taklamakan Desert nearly the size of Germany, are Uyghurs.
The news comes after an investigation uncovered 46 illegal wells dug in another part of Xinjiang, many by Han Chinese settlers to grow cotton and vegetables, depleting water reserves.
But authorities have been unwilling to clamp down on those wells.
Forcing farmers
Recent videos shared by Zumrat Dawut, a former Uyghur internment camp detainee now living in Virginia, in the United States, shows the destruction of Uyghur-constructed wells in Achchiq village.
In the footage, authorities force farmers to fill in the wells they had dug in an effort to address the region’s ongoing water crisis — a response that some see as heavy-handed and detrimental to the community.
Dawut, who tracks evidence of China’s repression of Uyghurs, often sources videos from Chinese social media, including state-run platforms, and shares them on global networks such as Facebook, where they are widely viewed.
When RFA contacted the security director of Achchiq village for confirmation, he said authorities had closed “illegal” wells in three villages.
“I was involved in closing wells in villages 6, 7 and 8,” he said.
The official noted that the well-closing operation began in February 2024, but was unable to provide any details on the potential impact the closures might have on the residents.
Another security director from Terim village in Yopurgha county said authorities closed wells dug by Uyghurs there, prompting residents to buy water from the Bingtuan, formally called the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
RELATED STORIES
Illegal wells in Xinjiang spark tension and dry up the land
Chinese irrigation tunnel project in Xinjiang hits snag: too much water
Subsidies for Han settlers ‘engineering demographics’ in Uyghur-majority southern Xinjiang
More than 1 million lack clean water in Xinjiang’s Hotan prefecture
The powerful state-run economic and paramilitary organization composed largely of Han Chinese is responsible for land development, border security and stability maintenance in Xinjiang — home to nearly 12 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs.
Human rights groups have accused the Bingtuan of exacerbating ethnic tensions by marginalizing Uyghurs and other indigenous groups in Xinjiang.
Left dry
The video, originally posted on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, shows county water department officials carrying out the order to close the wells.
An unidentified speaker in the video says that burying a single well in Achchiq village left dry more than 50 mu, or over eight acres, of farmland, which relied on the well for irrigation.
Despite repeated orders from higher authorities to protect farmers’ interests, local officials are deceiving higher authorities, leading to such harmful actions, he says.
In the video, another unidentified official confirms that all the illegal wells in the village have been closed.
“Yes, we’ve closed all the illegal wells,” an unidentified official says. “If we find one, we bury it.”
Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.