Uyghurs are a Muslim minority that primarily lives in Xinjiang, a region in northwest China. They are being held in “re-education” camps. In reality, they were sent to concentration camps to “cleanse China.”

In these camps, innocent Uyghurs are being tortured in cruel and inhumane ways. They are forced to eat pork and drink alcohol and women are being forced to take off their hijabs, both against their religious morals. They are being abused, malnourished, converted to other religions, and the women are being married off. Children are being separated from their parents.

The camps themselves are treated like prisons. The Chinese government leaked documents in which there were clear instructions written by Zhu Hailun, who runs these camps. These are some of the directions included in his leaked nine-page memo: 

• • “Never allow escapes”
  • “Increase discipline and punishment of behavioral violations”
  • “Promote repentance and confession”
  • “Make remedial Mandarin studies the top priority”
  • “Encourage students to truly transform”
  • “[Ensure] full video surveillance coverage of dormitories and classrooms free of blind spots”

Sophie Richardson is the Chinese director at the Human Rights Watch, an organization dedicated to defending human rights globally. “This is an actionable piece of evidence, documenting a gross human rights violation,” she said. “I think it’s fair to describe everyone being detained as being subject at least to psychological torture because they literally don’t know how long they’re going to be there.” 

The US has not addressed anything relating to this topic. To be honest, not much is being said or done about this very serious matter. Let’s see if something changes in the future.