The Sad Reality of China
Who are the Uighurs and what is happening to them?
The Uighurs are a minority group of Turkish people located in Northwest China. Most Uyghurs are Muslim and live in Xijiang, China. There are about 85 camps in the Xiyiang area where Uyghurs are being put in camps simply because of what they believe in.
The Muslims that are being held in this camp are being forced to do everything that the religion Islam opposes. They are being forced to drink alcohol, eat pork, they are being prohibited from wearing hijabs (headscarves), praying, and much more. Along with being forced to go against their religion, women and children are being raped, tortured, and beaten to death. This is no way to treat any human and this is a clear violation of human rights. Nobody’s race, religion, sexuality, or disability gives anyone a right to treat another in this manner and this issue is not getting as much recognition or help as it should be.
Where Overlake students stand.
Most of the upper school is aware of the severity of this situation and that there are millions of Muslims that are being held in these concentration camps against their will. What some may not know is that this has been going on since 2017 making it the largest mass genocide of a religious minority since World War II. There is no reason people should be dehumanized and treated like this.
In the green bar of diagram 2, it is shown that some people at Overlake think that only Muslims who have been convicted of a crime are sent to these camps. This is not true at all. These camps are painted to seem as if there isn’t a crisis taking place against millions, the Chinese government claims they are “re-education” camps. They are spending 2.96 billion on these facilities. 2.96 billion dollars are being spent to torture and kill humans! How can people sit back and see this take place? There are humans being tortured, children being ripped away from their parents, women being forced to take birth control, and to abort their children after being used and taken advantage of.
“I thought I would rather die than go through the torture and begged them to kill me.” -Concentration camp survivor, Mihrigul Tursun
Where the Chinese government stands.
The Chinese government claimed the religion of Islam to be a “mental illness”. The government responds to this “illness” by giving Muslims injections, making them infertile and unable to allow the Muslim population to grow. China has allegedly told everyone that the camps were necessary to offset extremism as well as separatism in Xinjing. But that’s not what’s really happening.
How to help?
Sadly, there is not much we can do because of how powerful China is although there is never a limit to spreading awareness. Signing petitions does help, as the more recognition this crisis gets the more people in a higher power will feel obligated to stop this violation of human rights. When there are millions and millions of humans being stripped of their humanity, they should not be silenced as others live comfortably. We are all human, and we all have a duty to help one another when others are struggling. Below are some petitions you can sign to help.
Sources:
Taddonio, Patrice. “Muslims Held in China’s Detention Camp”
