Scores dead after protests turn violent in China´s Xinjiang province

Some 700,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in southern China, in order to escape floods. At least 75 people are believed to have died as a result of the flooding as heavy rains continue in several provinces.
Meanwhile at least 152 people died in northwest China this weekend after protests in Xinjiang province, turned violent. The protesters were Uighurs, an ethnic group that is a minority throughout China, but that has a large presence in the northwestern Xinjiang province. Unlike most of China´s population, Uighurs are predominantly Muslim and their language has Turkic roots.
Uighur groups say they were peacefully protesting the deaths of two Uighur factory workers who died last month in a brawl with workers from China´s Han majority. But the Chinese government says the protests and the subsequent violence have been orchestrated by “terrorist groups”  who want independence from China.
To understand more about the current situation and the ethnic tensions in Xinjiang, FSRN spoke to Sophie Richardson, the Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch.