Hawzah News Agency (Xinjiang, China) -Authorities in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region have reportedly searched the homes of 30,000 members of the Muslim Kazakh ethnic group over the last few weeks, confiscating Qurans, prayer mats and other religious items.

A Kazakh resident of Tekes county, in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, told he recently returned to China after a trip across the border in Kazakhstan to find his hometown full of police.

He said his name and ID card number were added to a police “wanted” list along with another 60 Kazakhs, for “returning to China after a long absence.”

“Between Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, the homes and residences of 30,000 Kazakhs were forcibly searched,” the source said.

“They were looking for Qurans, prayer mats and beads, and anything bearing the name of Allah or the Prophet Mohammed.”

Minorities are also being pressured into attending early morning flag-raising ceremonies, where people stand to attention as the national anthem is played, they said.

The Tekes raids come after Chinese authorities ordered ethnic minority Muslim families in Xinjiang to hand in religious items in September.

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