As you’re reading this blog, the Chinese Government are currently carrying out a modern-day holocaust. Over a million different ethnic Muslims, mainly Uyghurs, have been forced into what China say are “re-education” camps. A lot of people didn’t believe that what’s happening is real, I didn’t myself… until I saw leaked photos and videos and even government documents which explained what the camps are really about and to think that this has been happening for years. There are more than 1,000 of these camps in the western region of Xinjiang.
Woman, men and children are raped, beaten, tortured and even killed. Meanwhile, what is the rest of the world actually doing about it? People have escaped and spoke out, previous workers from the camps themselves have spoke out and yet the world still denies it’s happening. What did the Uyghur Muslims of China do to deserve this?
I haven’t even touched the surface of what is happening in those camps. Muslims are being forced to eat pork, which some of you may know is not allowed in Islam. Woman are actually being sterilised to prevent the birth of more Muslims. The prisoners are forced to denounce Islam and pledge allegiance to the Chinese state. Muslim women are being forced to marry ethnic Han Chinese men. Children are being separated from their parents and sent to state-run orphanages and boarding schools where they’re taught to hate their religion and identity and are even forced to speak Chinese.
Practicing Islam is banned in these parts of China and even having an Islamic name is forbidden. So why would it be hard to believe that these concentrations camps are real and that the methods they use and the things that they do are inhumane?
The reasons why all of this information is well hidden is because China has tightly controlled its media. Even though some of the world does know, China are too powerful for any other government to speak out and do something about it. Does power give them the right to carry out an ethnic cleansing?
This isn’t just happening in the concentration camps, it’s happening in the villages and homes of these Muslims. Around 70-80% of people are gone from different towns and villages in East Turkestan. What’s your explanation for where they’ve disappeared?
This is a cultural genocide. Speak up and spread awareness. The Muslims of Xinjiang need you.
By Aaisha Sabir