A SWAT unit in Xinjiang holds drills. [File photo]

Eight people in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were sentenced to death or jailed on Monday after being convicted of abducting children or murder, local courts announced.

The eight people, involved in five cases, received the sentences in five different courts in Xinjiang.

In one case, a ring headed by Umair Tohti coaxed young children in Xinjiang into working as migrant laborers in Huizhou City, southern Guangdong Province, and then forced them into doing "hard work" by beating and abusing them, according to the sentence handed down by the Urumqi Municipal Intermediate People's Court.

On Nov. 9, 2009, Umair Tohti and two ring members, Tudi Daman and Memet Ahmat, beat a young boy, who could not stand their torture and attempted to flee, into a coma and threw him into a river. The boy subsequently drowned, the court heard.

Umair Tohti was sentenced to death, and Tudi Daman and Memet Ahmat were sentenced to suspended death both with a two-year reprieve, according to the verdict.

In another case, Arken Wusiman sold his 12-year-old daughter in April 2009 to criminals who trained her as a pickpocketer. But after the young girl was rescued and sent back home, Arken Wusiman sold her again to another pickpocketing gang in January this year, and he meanwhile hauled two other abducted children to inland provinces to become pickpocketers, according to the Markit County People's Court.

Arken Wusiman was sentenced to nine years in prison and fined 5,000 yuan (781.25 U.S. dollars).

In three other cases, four people were sentenced to jail terms ranging from two years and a half to 11 years, all convicted of trafficking children.

In April, authorities in Xinjiang promised to find and bring home all native Xinjiang children in other parts of the country, some of whom were stealing or begging for a living.

Most of the children were aged between 10 and 18 and from Aksu, Kashgar, Hotan and Yili, according to the regional bureau of civil affairs.

Many of them were forced into stealing by gangs after being conned to leave home for large- and medium-sized eastern cities on fake job offers.

The region has sent police who speak both Mandarin and Uygur to public security authorities of other provinces to assist in cracking down on the trafficking of children.

The Ministry of Public Security also ordered police authorities nationwide to launch a crackdown on the kidnapping and coercing of Xinjiang children.

To date, Xinjiang police, together with police forces of other regions, have rescued more than 500 abducted Xinjiang children in other parts of the country, cracked 90 criminal rings and detained 464 suspects.

The efforts are aimed at helping the children resume normal lives and restore the region's reputation, as currently it is a notorious source of young thieves.

Once returned home, the children will be placed in government-run shelters that provide schooling and a safe environment, Zhang Chunxian, the region's Communist Party chief, said in April.