Even in death there is no respite for the Uighurs, one of the world's most persecuted minorities, according to a new investigation that has revealed China is destroying burial grounds where generations of families have been interred.

Over the past two years, tombs have been smashed and human bones scattered in dozens of desecrated cemeteries in China’s northwest region, research by Agence France Presse and satellite imagery analysts Earthrise Alliance has revealed.

While the official explanation for the policy is urban development or the “standardisation” of old graves, overseas Uighurs say the destruction is part of the state’s concerted effort to eradicate their ethnic identity and control every aspect of their lives.

"This is all part of China's campaign to effectively eradicate any evidence of who we are, to effectively make us like the Han Chinese," said Salih Hudayar, who said the graveyard where his great-grandparents were buried was demolished.

"That's why they're destroying all of these historical sites, these cemeteries, to disconnect us from our history, from our fathers and our ancestors," he said.