51吃瓜

Beijing鈥檚 attempt to strip Uighur Muslims of their identity, of their religion and of what they stand for is nothing short of a cultural genocide.

According to numerous reports by human rights groups and the media, over a million Uighur Muslims are being held in detention camps in China鈥檚 Xinjiang province as part of the government鈥檚 crackdown against the ethnic minority. As world leaders remain largely silent on the issue, human rights continue unabated, with Uighur Muslims being made to denounce their faith and identity, and embrace the Chinese Communist Party. In this so-called re-education program, inmates are isolated from their families, subjected to brainwashing and in some cases , with reports of deaths in detention.

Uighurs China have been placed in internment camps, with cases of coming to light just last month. Claims by Chinese officials that these 鈥溾�� are an attempt to tackle religious extremism are contradicted by countless examples that prove this is far form the truth.

The Xinjiang Autonomous Uighur Region, as it is officially known, is home to some 8 million Turkic-speaking Uighurs, with a history of unrest and discord between the Chinese authorities, the ethnic Han majority and the Uighur Muslim population, which has been kept under tight and restrictions. The Republic of East Turkestan briefly called for independence in 1949 before being absorbed into Communist China. In an attempt to restrict Uighur Muslims from following their faith or expressing their identity, China introduced that include legislation prohibiting Islamic names. In the Xinjiang government banned Uighur Muslims from fasting during the holy month of Ramadan and has cracked down on mosques and Islamic schools.

The crackdown further heightened when Human Rights Watch found that Uighur Muslims were being kept under strict surveillance and were being made to give DNA and biometric samples. It was that a Chinese surveillance company has been tracking the movements of 2.5 million Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang and recording the location data of the residents.

Justification for Crackdown

The terrorist attack on in 2013 that killed five people further heightened tensions, with the being the first group to claim responsibility. A decades-long has been connected to attacks both inside and outside China, including the at Kunming railway station in 2014 and the 2015 of a shrine in Bangkok popular with Chinese tourists. An Uighur link surfaced in the 2016 suicide attack on the Chinese embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and Uighur militants from Xinjiang thought to be fighting alongside the and Iraq have vowed that 鈥淚n retaliation for the tears that flow from the eyes of the oppressed, we will make your blood flow in rivers, by the will of God.鈥�

This threat of extremism has provided a justification for a further crackdown on the Uighur population, prompting China to pass its in 2015, which set out vague descriptions of what the People鈥檚 Republic of China considers to be extremism. Article 9 of the law outlines 鈥渟preading religious fanaticism through irregular beards or name selection.鈥� However, despite the fact that the Chinese government reported that such as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement had with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, the exact number of Uighur jihadists is , and experts have their ability to carry out attacks inside China. At the same time, rights groups and Uighur exiles blame repressive policies and restrictions against Uighur Muslims for driving them out of China and fueling the unrest and radicalization in Xinjiang.

When individuals are detained for being visibly Muslim, wearing a headscarf or for saying their five daily prayers, it becomes apparent that this is not about 鈥渞e-education鈥� or tackling extremism, but rather an attempt to strip Uighur Muslims of their identity, of their religion and of what they stand for 鈥� a cultural genocide.

It is heartbreaking to see the plight of Uighurs and their children, many of whom have been separated from each other, not knowing where their loved ones are. China has those in the camps from contact with their families. Amina Allahberdi, a 32-year-old Uighur Muslim and Saudi national, was on a visit China to renew her passport in 2016 when she was and prevented from returning to Saudi Arabia. Her husband had spent a month in search of her but had to return back to Saudi Arabia to care for his two children. In an emotional , Allahberdi鈥檚 5-year-old son cries for their missing parent; 鈥淢y mother is from East Turkestan. When she went back home, China sent her to prison and we haven鈥檛 heard from her since,鈥� the children say. These are just two of the many who have lost their to these camps.

who tried to investigate the camps have been reported missing or sent to prison. , an Uighur journalist, was sentenced to 15 years for . The Chinese government only allows a number of journalists the right to visit the camps. Any claims of abuse by Uighur Muslims are explicitly dismissed by the Chinese authorities and branded as lies. However, the growing amount of evidence and corroborating statements of abuse prove otherwise.

Cries for Action

Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, stated that 鈥淭he abuse in Xinjiang today is so severe that it cries out for international action.鈥� World leaders must speak out against the injustices that President Xi Jinping has inflicted on China鈥檚 Uighur minority and hold those accountable in the eyes of international law. The only way that this can be done is if the United Nations Human Rights Council adopts a resolution to establish a thorough investigation. The United Nations have had a few , such as getting South Africa and Kazakhstan to give up their nuclear weapons, or persecuting Charles Taylor and Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes. A UN-mandated investigation would enable the high commissioner for human rights to carry out an independent inquiry. China should have to agree to having an unrestricted investigation in Xinjiang.

China can鈥檛 hide behind its economic power to escape accountability over its human rights violations. Uighur Muslims should have a right to practice their religion as mandated by of the Chinese Constitution, which states that people have the right to 鈥渆njoy freedom of religious belief.鈥� They should have the right to not be scrutinized for carrying a copy of the Quran, wearing a headscarf or donning a long beard as part of their faith.

China has had multiple opportunities to answer serious allegations of human rights abuse against Uighurs, such as those issued by . Yet the authorities continue to lie and deny the true nature of the situation.

No country in the world should be allowed to get away with the human rights abuses that China has inflicted on its own citizens. Uighur Muslims have faced repression from the Chinese authorities for far too long, and it is time now for Beijing to be held accountable and for justice to prevail 鈥斅爀ven if it means bringing the world鈥檚 second largest economy to shame.

The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.