More than a million Chinese Communist officials are being dispatched to live with local families in

More than a million Chinese Communist officials are being dispatched to live with local families in the western region of Xinjiang, a move seen as a sign of the government's increasingly tightened grip over the area's predominantly Uyghur Muslim population.The so-called "home stays," announced by the government, target farmer households in southern Xinjiang, where the authorities have been waging an unrelenting campaign against what they call the forces of "terrorism, separatism and religious extremism."Government statements and state media reports show that families are required to provide detailed information during the visits on their personal lives and political views. They are also subject to "political education" from the live-in officials-- whose stays are mandated to be at least one week per month in some locations. International advocacy group Human Rights Watch highlighted and condemned the government's "home stay" program in a report released Sunday, calling it a serious violation of privacy and cultural rights of the 11 million ethnic minorities in Xinjiang."What can be more intrusive than forcing your way into somebody's home, making them host you while conducting surveillance on them and saying you're bringing benefits to them?" Maya Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch and author of the report, told CNN on Monday."It's the ultimate form of surveillance -- it's a forced political indoctrination and assimilation program," she added. "It's both creepy and perverse." The "home stay" program, evolved from a government attempt that began in 2014 to have officials regularly visit and monitor people in Xinjiang, has greatly expanded since, involving 110,000 officials just two years ago to more than a million now, according to government figures. State media reports these officials, most of whom belong to China's predominantly Han ethnic group, teach minority families to speak Mandarin, sing the national anthem and organize weekly national flag-raising ceremonies -- activities similar to what activists say are mandated for thousands of Uyghur Muslims arbitrarily detained in political education camps across Xinjiang. CNN contacted the Xinjiang provincial government for comment but has not yet received a response.

'Forced intimacy'

Tensions have remained high in Xinjiang -- a resource-rich area long inhabited by the Turkic-speaking ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslims -- following a spate of violent attacks in recent years. The Chinese authorities have blamed the incidents on Muslim Uyghur separatists seeking to establish an independent state.In numerous photos posted online, the authorities paint a picture of ethnic unity, showing smiling Han officials and minority families jointly preparing meals, doing household chores, playing sports and even sharing the same bed -- images that Human Rights Watch's Wang says put the "forced intimacy" element of the program on full display.