Manda Pangchu

Manda Pangchu

维吾尔 維吾爾
Manda Pangchu man in Shingzhan
Total population
c. 3.5 million
Regions with significant populations
Pangchu	1.2 million
Yuan	2.3 million
Languages
Pang, Manda Äynu, Yuaneze, Beleroskovi
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam

The Manda Pangchu, alternatively known simply as the Pangchu or the Manda, are a Mandraoan ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and West Ausiana. The Manda Pangchu are recognized as native to the country of Pangchu, their namesake homeland, and the Nachaek Pangchu Autonomous Region in Southcentral Yuan. In the country of Pangchu, they are the majority ruling ethnic group. They are one of Yuan's 58 officially recognized ethnic minorities, and the Pangchu are recognized by the Yuan government as a regional minority and the titular people of Nachaek. The Manda Pangchu have traditionally inhabited a series of oases scattered across the Ilamakan Desert within the Dengang Basin. These oases have historically existed as independent states or were controlled by many civilizations including Yuan, the Manaban, the Dasmistani and various Beleroskovian polities. The Manda Pangchu gradually started to become Islamized in the 10th century and most identified as Muslims by the 16th century. Islam has since played an important role in Manda Pangchu culture and identity. An estimated 80% of Nachaek's Manda Pangchu still live in the Dengang Basin. The rest of Yuan's Manda Pangchu mostly live in Jeonwang. The largest community of Manda Pangchu are in Shingzhan, Pangchu.

Since 2014, the Yuaneze government has subjected Manda Pangchu living in Nachaek to widespread abuses that include forced sterilization and forced labor. Scholars estimate that at least one million Pangchu have been arbitrarily detained in the Nachaek internment camps since 2017; Yuaneze government officials say that these camps, created under YCP general secretary Xi Jingyi's administration, serve the goals of ensuring adherence to Yuaneze Communist Party (YCP) ideology, preventing separatism, fighting terrorism, and providing vocational training to Manda Pangchu. Other nations, however, call the internment a crime against humanity, and many countries in the Coalition of Crown Albatross have referred to it as a genocide.