Editor’s note: This article contains several mentions and references of murder, sexual violence, and mass discriminatory persecution. The decision to include these was not a light one; we at HSM discussed this topic and determined that to censor or remove these instances would be to unfairly represent the severity of it. This article is meant to inform you about such events, and thus we believe that the language used was necessary for us to report this topic with complete accuracy and respect.
For nearly a decade, the Uyghur people (pronounced “whee-gur”) in China have been facing genocide. Over one million Uyghur men, women, and children have been illegally detained and sent to concentration camps, called “reeducation camps” by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Testimonies and reports from these camps have revealed that imprisoned Uyghurs face brainwashing, forced labor, torture, sexual violence, and forced sterilization. These violations of natural rights and attempts at genocide against the Uyghur people are being committed consciously by the PRC. Yet, very few people are aware that these crimes against Uyghur people are occurring at all.
The Uyghurs are a Turkic Muslim ethnic group native to the autonomous Xinjiang region in northwestern China. They have inhabited the area in and around Xinjiang for over a millennium and are the second largest Muslim population in China. The main source of conflict is that both the Uyghur people and the PRC claim to be the rightful owners of Xinjiang. The tension between the Uyghur and past Chinese governments has been an ongoing conflict stemming from the Cultural Revolution in China, which took place from the 1950s to the 1970s. This occurred during the reign of Mao Zedong over China, another figure who advocated for and had a hand in the oppression of the Uyghur. Escalation continued when the PRC encouraged the migration of the Han Chinese, China’s largest ethnic group, into Xinjiang. The PRC began to heavily suppress Uyghur religious and cultural practices by demolishing Mosques, persecuting religious leaders, banning the use of the Uyghurs’ native language, and discouraging cultural customs through ideological education.
After Mao’s death, Uyghur oppression died down as national priorities changed, and religious practices were legalized again. However, unrest in the Xinjiang area began to return in the late 80’s as reports from Uyghurs stated that discrimination and marginalization were once again growing issues. This tension escalated in the 21st century, greatly exacerbated by the 9/11 attacks. After the attack on the World Trade Center, China began groundlessly claiming that the Uyghur people were linked to global terrorism. This claim was used to justify mass arrests of Uyghurs and the return of religious restrictions.
Inevitably, this unrest led to cases of ethnic violence, one of which is the Shaoguan incident. The Shaoguan incident took place in June 2009 and involved the completely false accusation of the rape of a Han woman by Uyghur men. This incited a brawl between Han and Uyghur factory workers, resulting in the deaths of two Uyghur workers and 118 people injured, most of whom were also Uyghurs. This incident was an event that precipitated the July 2009 Ürümqi riots. The riots took place over several days in Ürümqi, the capital city of Xinjiang. It began as a protest, in which at least 1,000 Uyghurs participated, but escalated into violent attacks that targeted local Han people. During the riots, multiple vehicles and buildings were destroyed, and nearly 200 people were killed, most of them being Han.
Continued conflicts between Uyghur and Han, such as these, are what led to China’s most recent and intense crackdown on the rights of the Uyghur people, especially after Xi Jinping rose to power. China’s domestic security budget in Xinjiang tripled between 2012 and 2017 as Xi Jinping began implementing surveillance systems all over Xinjiang, their main purpose being to survey and spy on Uyghur communities. Many populous areas in Xinjiang are dense with cameras equipped with facial recognition to track people, and Uyghurs who own phones are required to download apps that contain surveillance software. The education of all children in Xinjiang hardlines ideology and propaganda.
Around 2017, the PRC built at least 90 concentration camps. After their completion, the state began to illegally detain and send Uyghurs to these camps. Uyghurs can be sent to these camps for all manner of reasons, including no reason at all, and almost no detainees receive a charge nor trial. World governments aren’t completely sure how many people are kept in these camps, as the PRC has thoroughly attempted to cover up its mass detention, but the number is estimated to exceed one million. That’s equivalent to 1 out of 6 Uyghurs in China. The main purpose of these camps is to eradicate Uyghur identity, culture, and force Uyghurs to convert away from Islam, all via brainwashing. The Uyghurs endure forced labor, with reports from escaped Uyghurs claiming the imprisoned Uyghurs are regularly subjected to physical and psychological torture, deprivation of food and water, rape, indoctrination, sterilization, medical experimentation, and organ harvesting inside the camps. Not to mention the hundreds of Uyghurs who have died as a result of these camps. It’s estimated that there are currently over 150 Uyghur concentration camps in Xijiang.
China has said that the purpose of these camps is to reeducate the Uyghur and fight against terrorism.
But one of the camp’s definite objectives, besides persecuting the Uyghur people, is to allow China to move forward with its “Belt and Road Initiative”. The Belt and Road Initiative is a massive infrastructure project that is based on the historic Silk Road. It’s a project led by Xi Jinping that seeks to connect China with Africa and Europe using railways and highways, spanning over 150 countries.
This project would significantly boost China’s economic influence across a multitude of countries and regions. And Xijiang is vital to this project, as the majority of routes that the initiative takes are directly through Xinjiang. Xi Jinping is putting heavy funding and faith in this project, and the homes of Uyghurs are in the way of construction, prompting him to remove and oppress them. And rather than paying the Uyghur and helping them relocate comfortably, China is imprisoning and persecuting them.
Up until 2018, China flat-out denied the existence of the concentration camps, until they were presented with overwhelming evidence of the camps’ existence. When they admitted that the camps do exist, China said that they were used to reeducate criminals in the area, and to prevent extremism and terrorism.
But many people have stated that China is using these claims of terrorism prevention as an excuse to persecute minorities such as the Uyghurs. China then began releasing propaganda images of life in the camps, depicting people living comfortably and enjoying life.
China also collected statements from Uyghur people in Xijiang saying how much they appreciate the government and how good its influence is in Xinjiang. But the people who have migrated from Xinjiang have told how all of this staged propaganda is false and incredibly far from the truth.
China has continuously censored its genocide of the Uyghur, which is why very few people or countries are aware of or have spoken about it. Even many muslim-majority countries have been coerced by China to stay silent on the matter. However, some political figures have spoken up against the genocide. Some UK tribunals, such as Geoffrey Nice, have come out and said that China’s actions against the Uyghur people are crimes against humanity and violate natural human rights. The US has responded to the genocide by blocking some imports from Xinjiang.
The former US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has also come out and labeled China’s actions as genocide.
The UN has stated that China’s abuses of the Uyghurs may be considered crimes against humanity, but China has turned down any request from the UN for investigations into the matter. As of now, no direct attempts to end the genocide of the Uyghur people of Xijiang have been made.
