China's hidden concentration camps

It is only because of a video that was sent to me recently, that I have come to know of the shocking and disturbing situation in China, Xinjang,and the torture and dire suffering the ethnic Muslims known as the 'Uyghurs' are enduring. Naturally mainstream media have yet again failed to report what truly matters, ignoring not only this massive injustice, but also the situation in Yemen, the situation in Palestine, and of course dismissing anything the abrasive leaders of Saudi Arabia and the UAE are doing, by quietly sweeping it under the carpet. The media system and society we live in, claim to welcome everyone, hear all cries for help and rescue every soul from danger, yet when incomprehensible acts like this take place, they suddenly become blind and take a seat in the back. They rush to other issues like mental health and Brexit and whilst these are topics that should be spoken about, there's people clinging onto dear life halfway across the world, and all we seem to get on that is a two minute update, or a hidden article online. It's also because China is a very dominant powerful state, and interfering in their personal matters seems to be a dangerous move, which could only land the UK into more trouble than they already in.

So what is happening in Xinjiang at the moment? And why is the rest of the world awfully silent?
Well, if we look at this from an 'official' perspective, the Chinese government label these camps behind the title 'vocational training centres' where people are being looked after by the government, according to officials. Fair enough, this could potentially be true, but then why are majority of the Muslims living in the Xinjiang region missing from their homes, with signs on their front doors saying that they are being looked after? Why is it that when you drive past these so called 'vocational training centres' (which the Chinese government converted from factories and schools) they look more like prisons surrounded by high walls, and several watchtowers?
Prison design experts say the prison in Dabancheng could be the biggest in the world, holding up to 11,000 at the very least. And that's not even the biggest figure. Scott Busby who is a part of the US State Department said: 'There's at least 800,000 and possibly up to a couple of million people in these facilities." In addition, that's just the amount of people alive. What about all those that have died throughout this long and painful process? Unfortunately, there's very little if any evidence of the ones who have passed away. The bodies are cremated and not buried, so there's really no way of knowing how many have died, and figuring out a clear official statistical figure for this, is out of our reach.

Apart from China being an oppressive state, who are so nationalistic at the moment, they can't even seem to bear any form of religion, belief or practises apart from support and subservience to the Chinese government, president and Communist party, there's a few other reasons Xi Pinjing is forcing down such a massive crackdown on this specific region and group. Historically, there has always been tension between the Chinese state and Uyghur group. In the past they have put a tight hold on many Islamic traditions and practises, like growing long beards and wearing a veil. In 2014, Muslim civil servants were actually forbidden from fasting in the holy month of Ramadan, and this isn't the first time restrictions like this have been put in place. According to the BBC, Uyghur Muslim women are forced to marry ethnic Han Chinese men. This is another way (other than brutally murdering them in concentration camps) to put an end to the future generations of Uyghur Muslims and inevitably completely wipe out their existence.

It would be one thing, if Uyghur citizens were simply just kidnapped from their homes against their will, and at least taken to a safe, appropriate setting where they would reside. That would be torture enough, but the things that take place in these prisons are truly shocking, as it dates back to Nazi Germany.
An ex prisoner told the media "We'd get up at 5, do a lot of learning, sing songs for 2 hours during the day-'without the communist party there will be no new china', we watch movies that praise Xi Jinping and the communist party."
"They'd also tell us there is no such thing as religion, and there is no God."
They are forced to denounce Islam, adopt atheism and pledge allegiance to the Chinese state. If they refuse or retaliate, severe punishments are threatened to be carried out, and many forms of physical torture are carried out. Many prisoners are sterilised (a method actually used in genocide), beaten until dead, and coerced to sit on what is called the 'tiger chair' where they are repetitively electrocuted. Not only that, but snakes are also used to interrogate prisoners according to Aydin Anwar Uyghur activist who is very active regarding this issue, urging everyone to spread the message of this unbearable injustice. She has many family members in these camps (as does every Uyghur) and she says,'They are taken away for random reasons, like you have a family member abroad or are in contact with someone abroad, or you engage in religion, pray. Even mentioning God in your speech (for example inshAllah which simply means God willing) or fasting, or basically anything to do with religion could put you in danger.'
In 2014, Aydin's uncle was put into one of these camps because he attended a relatives wedding in America, and three years later in August 2017, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Whether his trip abroad was the main reason behind this or not, it's clear to see the Chinese state very much despises any form of activity outside of the country.

There are barely any images online of these camps, because the Chinese government have such a tight control of the media over there, that we're not even able to really see the situation. The BBC were filming the outside of the building, when they were repressed and reprimanded by officers to put their cameras away. I have a feeling that the situation is worse than we expect, with higher numbers of camps, worse conditions inside, and more people affected than we can imagine.