Muslim Concentration Camps

A protester wearing a mask painted with the colors of the flag of East Turkestan and a hand bearing the colors of the Chinese flag in Istanbul, on July 5, 2018.

(OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images)

Written by Bhoomi Jain

Families are being ripped apart and people are dying all because of their beliefs, I encourage you to please help us solve this problem and take part in abolishing concentration camps forever.

For the past three years, China has been forcing Muslims into concentration camps located in Xinjiang. There are over 380 camps spread around Xinjiang holding over three million Muslims and Uyghurs. In 2018 documents with instructions and plans for the concentration camp were leaked and the world really saw what was going on. Some of the instructions in the documents were, ”Never allow escapes” and “Increase discipline and punishments.” When the Chinese government was asked about the documents and about the camp they said that it was a “training camp” and that what everyone else was talking about was fake news. They also claimed that the people that lived there were their students.

One of the former inmates described her life there and said that it was,“hell.” She said that their every move was being watched by cameras, even when they went to the bathroom. They had to do everything the guards said or they would be punished. The prisoners could only sit when a guard allowed them, they went to sleep whenever the guards allowed them to, and women only got two minutes to go to the bathroom. If they took longer than two minutes, the guards would shock the back of their head with an electric baton and then make them say,”Thank you teacher we will not be late next time.” She said that the teachers were not teaching, they were breaking them. Former inmates also claimed that they were separated from their families, were tortured, and were overcrowded.

Families are being torn apart, innocent people are being stripped of their beliefs, culture, and hope, women are being forced to take unknown drugs, innocent people are being tortured for their beliefs, and the Chinese are brainwashing them into thinking that their beliefs make them bad people and that they deserve to be hurt.

No one deserves to be hurt and watching from the sidelines, letting this happen to innocent people is not okay. I encourage you to take a stand on this issue because hundreds of Uyghur people are disappearing everyday from their homes or dying in the concentration camps. If you can, please donate to this cause, so that we can rescue the Uyghurs that are imprisoned there and put an end to concentration camps. A few places you can donate are at https://www.saveuighur.org/ or https://uhrp.org/support or https://campaignforuyghurs.org/donation/. If you are not able to donate that is okay, but please spread the word, tell you friends, family, neighbors, or anyone you know about what is going on in Xinjiang and ask them if they could donate.

References 

(https://bylinetimes.com/), B. (2020, August 25). 'Death is Everywhere': Millions More Uyghurs Missing. Retrieved October 18, 2020, from https://bylinetimes.com/2020/08/24/death-is-everywhere-millions-more-uyghurs-missing/ 

CBS News. (2020, September 25). 380 secret detention camps for Muslim minorities found in China, group says. Retrieved October 18, 2020, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/380-secret-detention-camps-muslim-minorities-xinjiang-china-report/ 

Danilova, M. (2018, November 27). Woman describes torture, beatings in Chinese detention camp. Retrieved October 18, 2020, from https://apnews.com/article/61cdf7f5dfc34575aa643523b3c6b3fe 

Data leak reveals how China 'brainwashes' Uighurs in prison camps. (2019, November 24). Retrieved October 18, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50511063 

Graham-Harrison, E. (2020, September 24). China has built 380 internment camps in Xinjiang, study finds. Retrieved October 18, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/24/china-has-built-380-internment-camps-in-xinjiang-study-finds 

Kirby, J. (2020, July 28). Concentration camps and forced labor: China's repression of the Uighurs, explained. Retrieved October 18, 2020, from https://www.vox.com/2020/7/28/21333345/uighurs-china-internment-camps-forced-labor-xinjiang 

Stewart, P. (2019, May 03). China putting minority Muslims in 'concentration camps,' U.S. says. Retrieved October 18, 2020, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-concentrationcamps/china-putting-minority-muslims-in-concentration-camps-u-s-says-idUSKCN1S925K