Many have not heard of the so-called “re-education camps” targeting Uyghur Muslims in China since 2014. These concentration camps are running outside of the law and are responsible for the death and torture of thousands of Muslims.
“[The Chinese] are taking people away to camps with horrible conditions, feeding them pork and alcohol, splitting apart families, taking children away,” Diana Stinkova said. “It is prejudice and causes such a big conflict with not just Muslims, but the world.”
These camps began under general secretary Xi Jinping’s administration and currently has the support of 37 countries including Bolivia, Cuba, Egypt, North Korea and Russia. However, 22 countries, such as the U.K., France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Australia, and more, have voiced the disapproval of these camps. The United States has yet to share its opinions.
According to Intel from the United Nations Human Rights Panel, over 1 million Muslims are being held hostage in these concentration camps and are being forced to perform actions that break their faith. For instance, they are demanded to eat non-kosher beef.
“[The Chinese] are literally taking away a piece of people’s lives when they attempt to remove [the Muslim’s] religion,” Diana said, “Religion makes up a part of who a person is and is justified no matter what they believe. There is no normal or correct religion in the world but that is what the Chinese are attempting to achieve and it is terrifying.”
According to CNN, a Muslim woman, Mihrigul Tursun, reveals her experience with the camps in China. After escaping a camp, Tursun was detained and tortured. She was returned to a camp and separated from her three infant children. Then, she was released but one of her triplets was killed and the other two had developed deformities after being operated on for experimental purposes.
“I will tell [my children] everything,” Tursun said. “I will tell them the Chinese government killed their brother.”
The main form of torture in these concentration camps is physical and mental torture to suppress religious beliefs. Muslims are forced to chant “Long Live Xi Jinping,” study communist propaganda for hours and sing the Chinese national anthem and communist songs.
“I think that it is wrong and inhumane,” Ella Ramsey said, “It seems to be a repeat of the Holocaust and it is awful that nobody has done anything about it.”
What has caused anger in people around the world is the lack of coverage of this issue in the media. Newspapers and news channels need to report this issue and educate Americans about these concentration camps.
“I think it’s outrageous and disgusting how the media has not said a thing about this,” Jordynn Blackwell said, “We hear about the presidential impeachment and Trump’s latest tweets but when it comes to the loss of innocent lives just because some people worship something differently, the media goes silent.”