At the southeastern corner of the China nationalities museum in Beijing, the Uighur “ethnic landscape” is looking worse for wear. The paint along the walkway is peeling and cracks have appeared in the dusty pottery houses that are designed to exhibit the traditional culture of the Uighur people.

The museum’s mission is “to promote unity of all Chinese ethnic groups”. More than 1,500 miles away in the Uighurs’ native province, Xinjiang, the Chinese state is taking a more direct approach to unity.

Reports from foreign media, the UN, Human Rights Watch and other NGOs emerged this summer of the extrajudicial detention of more than one million Uighur people in “re-education” camps across the region. Last week there were further reports of preparations for mass deportation.