Uighur Concentration Camps

Just about two days back, the US Customs Department seized USD 800,000 worth of human hair weaves which are suspected to have been made out of human hair taken from people who are locked inside Chinese internment camps. This adds to the slew of already existing human rights violations by the Chinese government. The shipment came from the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, where an estimated 1 million or more Uighur Muslims are locked in what the Chinese government terms as re-education centers from the last 3 years. Certain official leaked documents from China revealed that in the name of voluntary education and training, people from Muslim Uighur community are systematically tortured, indoctrinated and punished inside these camps in Xinjiang. In fact, these detentions are happening on the basis of religion only and without any trial.

The documents revealed certain instructions from the top brass of the Chinese Communist Party to the officials of these camps, such as to never allow escapes, and punishment of behavioural violations. Human rights lawyers have consistently argued that the Chinese government is conducting a systematic mass brainwashing scheme designed to change the mindset and religious practices of Uighurs. This is coupled with the mass surveillance and constant policing programme that analyses personal data of all Muslims living in the country. Another directive states that the Uighurs with foreign nationalities should be arrested and Uighurs living abroad should be consistently tracked.

However, even if you would like to believe the Chinese government’s stated objective to remove extremism, this point of view if anything but correct. The officials identify religious practices such as religious pilgrimage, frequent worship at a mosque and term these as suspicious enough to warrant internment. The Washington Post terms this phenomenon as cultural genocide which does not include mass extermination of people but a destruction of their religious beliefs. There are stark similarities between this programme and the KGB’s tactics which were inspired from Nazi eugenics. The Chinese officials in certain statements stated that Uighurs are the weeds in their society which need to be removed by spraying chemicals on them.

Such draconian practices against minorities are on the rise in multiple countries in today’s day!

Image credits: TRT World

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