UIGHUR MUSLIMS

By Arisha Zafreen
 WHO ARE THE
UIGHURS?

•The Uighurs are a Turkic minority

group with a mainly Muslim population.
Uighurs have a distinct culture and
history, which includes the declaration of
two-short lived independent republics in
the first half of the 20th century, both
known as East Turkestan.
•Xinjiang, an arid area of mountains and
vast steppes in China’s far north – west,
is home to nearly 11 million Uighurs.
Throughout Central Asia, smaller groups
can be found.
 The red circles
WHAT’S HAPPENING? indicate the
camps.

In recent years, the Chinese government has carried out sweeping

surveillance, mass detentions and forced assimilation against
Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. People are
constantly monitored by video cameras and police checkpoints.
According to the US government, more than a million Uighurs
have been detained by Chinese authorities, accounting for
approximately 10% of the Uighur population in Xinjiang.
Since 2017, a large number of Uighur detainees have been sent to
“Vocational Education Training Centres” run by the government.
Detainees are forced to learn Mandarin,, renounce “extremist”
beliefs. Former prisoners claim to have been subjected to torture
and abuse. The Uighurs there are forced into hard labour, being
under strict surveillance, religious restrictions & forced
sterilizations.
The Chinese government has denied that there were any camps in
the beginning, but images of the camps emerged. These four Chinese language “bulletins” are classified
intelligence briefings from the Integrated Joint Operation
The rights that are being violated are security and safety. The Network, a consolidated data collection system. For the
victims were under surveillance and wasn’t given any privacy. first time, the bulletins detail the connection between mass
surveillance and the Xinjiang camps.
UDHR ARTICLES
 ARTICLE 2 OF THE UDHR

In 2009, riots erupted in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, after Uighurs protested the government’s and Han
majority’s treatment of them. During the protests, over 200 people were killed, and hundreds were wounded. The
Chinese government, on the other hand, blamed the demonstrations on militant separatist movements, a strategy
plans to use against the Uighurs and other religious and ethnic minorities in the future. Following the protests in the
area in 2009, authoritarian measures were implemented in 2016 and 2017, curtailing religious freedom and
increasing surveillance of the minority population, mostly under the pretext of fighting terrorism and extremism.
They are forbidden from speaking any other language than Chinese, and Halal food is prohibited in the region.
Women under the age of 45 are not permitted to wear hijab, and facial recognition systems have been built near
mosques to register and punish anyone who enters.
Article 2 of the UDHR relates to this since the Uighur Muslims were taken into “re-education” camps because of
them practicing their religion and voicing their opinions on the government and Han’s treatment. Article 2 of the
UDHR clearly states that “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without
distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social
origin, property, birth, or other status.”
 
 ARTICLE 5 OF UDHR

Men are detained in concentration camps while the children are sent to orphanages. Women are brutally harassed, raped
and compelled to marry other Chinese men. They are compelled to eat pork, drink alcohol, and deny that they are
Muslims. Former inmates mentioned crowded cells, brainwashing which resulted into some committing suicide,
waterboarding, being tortured while interrogated, food & sleep loss as a form of punishment, being shocked in the electric
chair and other types of extreme of abuse ranging physically and mentally.
This relates to Article 5 of the UDHR because it states that “ No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment or punishment.”
 THE RESPONSE

In a letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council in

July, 22 countries, predominantly European and except the
United States, denounced Chinese leadership in response to
"disturbing allegations of large-scale arbitrary detentions of
Uighurs."
Notably, 37 countries defended China's "remarkable
achievements in the field of human rights" four days later by
promising to protect their country from "terrorism,
separatism, and religious extremism." Saudi Arabia, Egypt, This source shows the countries
and Qatar, all Muslim-majority countries, were among the who have signed the letter.
signatories.
 SOLUTIONS

• Donate : Unfortunately, due to government restrictions, no help can reach

China, and anybody inside China who has any contact outside the border can
be arrested by the authorities. You can, however, assist Uyghur refugees who
have made it to Turkey.
• Use your voice: Sign petitions and writing to your local MP bringing this issue
to their attention.
 REFERENCES

• Taras, A., 2021. Six Ways You Can Help Uyghur Muslims in China, Right Now | Amaliah. [online] Amaliah. Available at:
<https://www.amaliah.com/post/57754/six-ways-can-help-uyghurs-muslims-china-right-now> [Accessed 18 March 2021].
• Shiel, F. and Chavkin, S., 2021. China Cables: Who Are the Uighurs and Why Mass Detention? - ICIJ. [online] ICIJ. Available at:
<https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-cables/china-cables-who-are-the-uighurs-and-why-mass-detention/> [Accessed 18
March 2021].
• Vox. 2021. Concentration camps and forced labor: China’s repression of the Uighurs, explained. [online] Available at:
<https://www.vox.com/2020/7/28/21333345/uighurs-china-internment-camps-forced-labor-xinjiang> [Accessed 18 March 2021].
• Indian, T., 2021. Tortured, Forced To Eat Pork, Consume Alcohol: Uighur Muslims' Tale At Chinese Detention Camps. [online]
Thelogicalindian.com. Available at: <https://thelogicalindian.com/news/detention-camps-china-uighur-muslims/> [Accessed 18
March 2021].