Suffering in Silence: Uyghur Muslims Kept in Concentration Camps by China

A protest outside the Chinese Embassy in London. (Photo Credit: Karl Nesh)

By Zarin Siddiqua

“It’s heartbreaking seeing that no one is aware of what’s happening,” said Ghofran Nagi, an undecided sophomore at Lehman, of China’s systematic targeting of its indigenous Muslim populations. “I wish that people would share this with others and come up with ideas to spread awareness and hopefully attract important people to make a change. It’s horrible that in today’s world, people still have to hide who they are and what they believe in to stay alive.”

Since 2017 over one million Turkic Uyghur Muslims, one of China’s ethnic minorities, have been detained in its Xinjiang region, where over 10 million Uyghurs live, according to the New York Times. It reports that in these camps, captives are forced to give up their native language and religion and are subject to political indoctrination.

In mid-November, the paper published an exposé of China’s policies based on over 400 pages of official documents that describe atrocities committed against Muslim communities who suffered a previous lack of media coverage that contributed to widespread ignorance of their plight. According to Foreign Policy, China long denied that the re-education camps even existed. The Journal of Political Risk also reported that the Chinese government has sought to counter human-rights accusations over its re-education and internment campaign through elaborate propaganda.

However, Humaid Sabi, a senior lawyer, told Business Insider that a "very substantial number" of prisoners were "killed to order" by the Chinese government. They were "cut open while still alive for their kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, cornea, and skin to be removed and turned into commodities for sale," the report said. Chinese Tribunal, a human rights charity that investigates these issues, reported that body parts were then used for medical purposes. According to the New York Times “Many members of the Uighur ethnic group living in exile are worried that their relatives back home in China are locked up in internment camps — or dead.”

Muslim community and the members of Lehman’s Muslim Student Association are crushed by these inhumane events.

 “What's going on around the world is devastating to anyone who has an open mind and an open heart,” said Ala Rashed, psychology and media communications senior and vice president of Lehman’s Muslim Student Association (MSA). “What you are left with are people suffering. I don't even use the word dying because I feel like death for many of our brothers and sisters is their ultimate relief, as unfortunate as that sounds.”

 The lack of access for foreign and Chinese press who want to cover stories in Xinjiang also makes it hard to know what is going on in the region or even predict the future, Foreign Policy News reported. The resulting lack of outcry has been observed on a global scale.

“There has been a worrisome silence from many countries, particularly Muslim-majority countries like Saudi Arabia and Indonesia that one might think would be concerned about the plight of Uighurs,” officials at Northeastern education news reported, “Some argue these countries value economic ties with China over religious solidarity with the Uighurs.”

Activists in Brussels, Belgium protesting China’s oppression of Uyghur Muslims. (Photo Credit: Radio Free Asia)

Lehman students are also upset by the current oppression against China’s Muslim community.

Foulemata Camara, a biomedical science major at Lehman said, “People sometimes tend to forget the meaning of practicing any religion you want. No one ever deserves to be treated that way just because of a religious choice.”

“We are not warmongers... our leaders and our haters have portrayed us as such and it kills me,” said Rashed. “However, hope is not lost”

“I have friends that are scared of what is happening. They are scared to practice their faith freely without feeling that they might get attacked,” said Bricenia Diaz, a Lehman junior majoring in Psychology. “We are in the 21st century and history is repeating itself and the world is letting it happen. We are all aware of a similar genocide. Why is the world still quiet? How many more people have to die?”