Uyghurs

The Chinese state has created a vast and secretive network of camps in Xinjiang region and is estimated to have detained more than a million Uighurs and people from other Muslim minority groups. Reports have emerged in recent years of appalling human rights abuses, from forced sterilization of Uyghur women to torture inside camps, to children being separated from their families and sent to learn Chinese in special orphanages.

Some background

Since April 2017, millions of Uyghurs have been rounded up by Chinese authorities and sent to large modern-day concentration camps. A document quoted the party secretary Chen Quango on detention centers stating the camps should “teach like a school, be managed like the military and be defended like a prison” and “must first break their lineage, break their roots, break their connections and break their origins.”

Punishment is cultural and collective. More than 3 million people in detention are charged with no crime. China has developed a surveillance system in Uyghur regions built on DNA collection, ubiquitous cameras, facial-recognition software, police checkpoints on every corner, GPS tracking devices on vehicles, and QR codes on every home.

Family Separation

Amnesty International’s report, Hearts and Lives Broken: The Nightmare of Uyghur Families Separated by Repression follows six Uyghur parents separated from their children as a result of the crackdown in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Amnesty International report on torture and persecution of Muslims in Xinjiang China

The evidence Amnesty International has gathered provides a factual basis for the conclusion that the Chinese government has committed at least the following crimes against humanity: imprisonment, torture, and persecution. You can read the extensive Amnesty International report, with first person interviews and data collection over 3 years. Use the tabs at the top to browse through parts that interest you.

FIND REPORT HERE

Take Action

TAKE ACTION
Take action by writing a letter to Chinese officials (sample letter provided)

TAKE ACTION– print, sign and send these letters to U.S. officials (opportunities to email them are also included.

TAKE ACTION Sign a petition calling on the Chinese government to ensure that children in Xinjiang are allowed to be reunited with their parents and siblings living abroad.