Internment of the Xinjiang Uighurs in China

An internment program that targets ethnic Uighur extremists in Xinjiang region of China has incarcerated one million in camps across the country’s northwest. The so called “political re-education" camps are growing up to 1,300, although China denies detention of vast numbers of Uighur separatists.

Unrest in the area has a long history and is driven more by China’s oppression of religious activity and preferential policies for non-Uighur migrants to the region. China has banned men from growing beards and women from wearing veils, and launched an extensive electronic surveillance program to erase a sense of Islamic or Turkish identity among Uighurs and other Muslim ethnic groups. The re-education programs, much akin to Communist China’s pervasive cultural and political propaganda, prohibit the detainees to pray, keep a copy of the Quran or fast during Ramadan.

According to former inmates and detainees’ relatives, reasons for detention include traveling abroad, contacting or visiting relatives outside China, and having WhatsApp on their phones. Detainees have been reported disappearing after entering the camps, or died soon after they were released. Strict limits and surveillances are epitomized in slogans such as one sign at Turpan internment camp that reads: “Sense the party’s kindness, obey the party’s words, and follow the party’s lead.” Meanwhile, China declares that Uighurs enjoyed full rights but "those deceived by religious extremism... shall be assisted by resettlement and re-education."

Xinjiang is designated as an autonomous region in China, like Tibet to its south. Once at the intersection of ancient Silk Road trade routes, Xinjiang now threatens to become a black hole in President Xi Jinping’s international “One Belt One Road” expansion effort. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch has submitted reports to the UN committee documenting claims of mass imprisonment. The international community is taking note, while U.S. lawmakers calling for sanctions. “[I]n the name of combating religious extremism and maintaining social stability,” China has turned the Xinjiang region “into something that resembles a massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy, a sort of ‘no rights zone’,” Gay McDougall, a member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, observed.

Whether or how the pushback from international human rights organizations will alter China’s policies toward the Uighurs remains unclear. China continues to disguise the re-education regime as justifiable policy to centrally control Xinjiang. The system of repression has turned Xinjiang into a police state like no other. In Hotan, “convenience police stations” are part of a “grid-management system.” The authorities divide each city, village or town into squares, with about 500 people. Every square has a police station that keeps tabs on the inhabitants. At checkpoints, identity cards are scanned, photographs and fingerprints are taken, and newly installed iris-recognition technology is used to examine residents’ eyes. Phones are confiscated for later data analysis. China imposes a police state to limit separatism and reduce violence. But by oppressing the Uighurs, the result is that the minority group is drifting towards more violence.

中国大规模囚禁新疆维吾尔族人

针对维吾尔族的极端分子, 中国在新疆地区实施拘留计划，于全国西北部设立难民营关押了百万人。所谓的 "政治再教育" 阵营已有 1300座, 但中国当局否认大量囚禁维吾尔分离主义分子。

新疆地区的骚乱历史悠久, 中国对宗教活动的压迫以及非维吾尔族移民于该地区享有不平的优惠政策皆是导致动荡之因。中国禁止男子留胡子, 妇女穿面纱, 并建立广泛的电子监视系统, 以消除维吾尔人和其他穆斯林族群的伊斯兰或土耳其人的异族情结。再教育计划, 非常类似于共产主义中国广泛的文化和政治宣传, 禁止囚犯对阿拉祈祷, 保存古兰经副本或在斋月期间斋戒。

根据囚犯和其亲属的说法, 人们被囚禁的理由包括旅行国外, 联系或拜访中国境外的亲属, 或者是电话装载有 WhatsApp。囚犯在进入拘留营后失踪, 或在获释后不久便死亡的情况比比皆是。中国采用严格的限制和监视口号, 例如在吐鲁番集中营的一个标志, 写着: “感觉党的善良, 服从党的话语, 并遵循党的领导。” 与此同时, 中国宣称维吾尔人享有充分的权利, 而 “那些被宗教极端主义者所欺骗的人, 将得到重新安置和再教育的帮助。”

如同位于南端的西藏，新疆被指定为中国的自治区, 并位于古代丝绸之路贸易路线的交汇处。而今新疆则成为习近平总统国际 "一带一路" 扩张努力的阻挠黑洞。大赦国际和人权观察组织向联合国委员会提交了报告, 记录了中国大规模监禁的情景。国际社会已渐渐意识其压迫少数民族的手法, 美国立法者也呼吁采取制裁措施。"以反对宗教极端主义和维护社会稳定的名义," 中国已经将新疆地区变成了一个大规模的拘留营, 笼罩在秘密控制中, 形成一种 ' 没有权利之区 ', "联合国消除种族歧视委员会成员麦克杜格尔解释。

国际人权组织的这种推迟是否会改变中国对维吾尔人的政策, 目前还不清楚。中国持续将再教育制度伪装成对新疆进行集中控制的正当政策。镇压制度已经使新疆成为一个不像其他国家一样的警察控制区域。"便利派出所" 是 "网格管理系统" 的一部分。当局将每个城市、村庄或城镇划分为正方形, 以500人为一单位。每个单位都有一个警察局来监视居民。在检查站, 人们身份证被扫描, 并拍摄照片和指纹，而新安装的虹膜识别技术也被用来检查居民的眼睛。电话被没收来进行数据分析的情况历历在目。中国设定了一个警察控制之国家来限制分裂主义和减少暴力。但通过压迫维吾尔人的结果是：少数名族群体势必走向更多的暴力。

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