Today Uyghurs, Tomorrow the World

Can you believe that there are Nazi-style concentrations camps in a 21st century superpower?

In the north-west regions of China is a large province by the name of Xinjiang. It is mineral-rich, generating more than ⅓ of China’s total natural resources. It is also under heavy military occupation, although this was not always the case.

Before Chinese occupation in 1949, Xinjiang was known as East Turkistan, a land home to people called Uyghurs. Uyghurs are an indigenous Turkic minority and the ancestors to the Turkic people of the world, although this fact has been mostly erased from history by China. Ever since Chinese annexation, Uyghurs have been treated as enemies in their own land.

In present times, the condition of Uyghurs in Xinjiang have reached a new limit. Prior to the last few years, anyone that spoke out against Chinese assimilation tactics would be imprisoned. Now, people are faced with arbitrary arrest for what would be considered the simplest rights. Imagine being throw in prison for practicing Islam; having a Quran, praying, fasting, wearing hijab, and giving your child an Islamic name are all punishable by law. Masjids that still stand are equipped with facial-recognition technology, so even the most devout individuals fear entering the holy sites. Those with ties to Uyghur nationalism have all been persecuted; there are few singers, actors, and politicians not in internment camps. Speaking the language of the land, Uyghur, is also used as an excuse for imprisonment in Xinjiang.

In the past four years, over three million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities have been taken into concentration camps where they are tortured and politically brainwashed. The first idea that detained Uyghurs are fed is that Islam is a mental illness that they need to be cured of. Uyghurs that are not inside these internment camps have cut communications with relatives outside the province for fear of Chinese harrassment. Due to this, Uyghurs outside China have not heard from family members for years, and are unsure of whether or not they are even alive.

First, China targeted the Uyghurs because they were said to be separatist extremists, and that it was China’s job to prevent the breakup of their nation. Ever since the 9/11 attacks however, China claims that Uyghurs are Islamic extremists, and it is their job to extinguish extremism in their nation. In reality, Xinjiang is a valuable land that they refuse to give up.

China is a superpower, and an important trading partner for many other nations; countries fear opposing China and blotching trading agreements. Even countries in the same Turkic family hesitate to announce their loyalties. The treatment is not completely unnoticed; the issue of the concentration camps have been vocalized at United Nations, as well as by multiple European countries, but Chinese representatives rushed to end conversation.

At the moment, people might not care as Uyghurs are targeted, but thinking of the future, how likely is it that China will abolish the concentrations camps after wiping Uyghurs from existence? Chances are, once Uyghurs are gone from history, these very concentration camps will target another nation, and the whole process will repeat itself.