The Silenced Voices of the Uyghurs and Muslims

By Jamie Lee

Troy High School

Religion has been a sensitive topic for centuries. In world history, there have been many events where certain leaders forced their people to follow and live by the rules of a certain religion. In 2021, these events might seem like historical events that are not related to the current world. However, history is repeating itself in China, where the Uyghurs and many Muslims are sent to Xinjiang internment camps, where they are forced to give up their religion.

In the camps, detainees are constantly abused, raped, and tortured for the sole reason of being an Uyghur or a Muslim. It is estimated that there are more than 1000 internment camps in the region of Xinjiang alone and that over one and a half million people are detained in the camps. Under the purpose of “re-education”, Uyghurs and Muslims are constantly pressured to give up their religion through tortures and forced speech sessions.

The issue regarding the Xinjiang internment camps is not only a matter of religion, but also a matter of humanity. The detainees are forced to live in an uninhabitable conditions where they aren’t provided with proper meals, clothes, sanitary items, and a bed to sleep on. They are split up from their families and children are stripped from the chance of a proper education. All the detainees, including children and disabled personnels, are forced to do labor in unsafe environments for hours.

Female detainees are often raped by the guards. Many of them are forced to sleep on the guards’ beds and be a “sexual partner”. They are also not provided with proper feminine products and are banned from seeing their husbands and children.

Victoria Choi, a junior from Troy High School, claims that she strongly stands against these camps and that all people should be granted to have freedom of religion. She believes that people and organizations should raise awareness of theses camps since many are still unaware that these camps exist.

Joyce Ng, a sophomore from Arcadia High School, adds on and states that issues like these should be taken more seriously by the public. She believes that people must show strong disapproval of these camps through protests and petitions to put an end to the inhumane treatment of the Uyghurs and Muslims in the camps.

The camps are designed to indoctrinate the Muslims and Uyghurs into losing their faith in their religion and solely obeying the words of the Chinese government. Despite the criticism that the Chinese government has received over the years from multiple countries and organizations, the government tries to silence the issue and continues to build more internment camps.

People are living in an era where freedom of religion is believed to be the basic right of all people. These camps not only strip away the voices of the Uyghurs and Muslims, but also take away their freedom.