Sabo Kosimova | Student, Department of Political Science & International Relations.
Istanbul University
What comes to mind when we say "Genocide," “Holocaust,"? There are countless films about World War II, Adolf Hitler, the Holocaust, Nazi concentration camps. But if we do not go back as much as those dates, if we look closer, if we look today, what comes to your mind? Nothing actually. Though it is an important humanitarian problem, the ongoing Uyghur problem and the Uyghur people's struggle to survive the persecution of the
Chinese in China has not found a place in the world agenda.
In this article, I will mention the human rights violation experienced by Uyghurs. Uyghurs living outside of East Turkistan and China lose contact with family members living in East Turkistan. Right now, almost every family in the Uyghur diaspora has a missing relative or a loved one. What happened to so many missing people? Where are they? They could be found in many of those concentration camps. Before they were taken into custody, no arrest warrant was made, nor was there any formal accusation against any of them. Hence, the camps constitute the largest number of state-sponsored enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention in the history of modern humanity. It is almost impossible for Uyghurs living outside of East Turkistan ( also known as Xinjiang) to know if their detained friends and family members are still alive.
Besides, most Uyghur refugees and asylum seekers were forcibly returned to China. Silencing those who want to escape oppression for a better life has been repeated and constant practices by the Chinese authorities. China continued its repressive regime abroad. There have been many cases where Uyghur refugees or asylum seekers have been forcibly returned following China's pressure on a foreign government. In the last 15 years alone, more than 300 Uyghurs have been forcibly returned from 16 different countries and disappeared on their return. In December 2009, 22 Uyghurs were returned from Cambodia to China and disappeared. In July 2015, 109 Uyghurs were handed over to the Chinese government by Thai authorities and disappeared. In July 2017, more than twenty Uyghur students were sent back to China from Egypt and disappeared. More recently, in April 2018, a 22-year-old Uyghur asylum seeker in Germany returned to China and has not been heard since then. The attempts of his lawyer and the German government have resulted in failure.
In fact, in light of the arbitrary detention of 1.8-3 million Uighurs in detention camps over the past three years, the CCP has used enforced disappearances against the Uyghur people many times, which has become a part of the Chinese government's genocide campaign. In December 2019, UN experts expressed concern about the disappearance of Tashpolat Tiyip, an academic who was forcibly disappeared in 2017 and whose whereabouts are still unknown. Similarly, leading activist Rushan Abbas's sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, disappeared in 2018 and was recently confirmed detained at an undisclosed location. In the rural areas of East Turkistan, which has been under China's domination since 1949, construction continues, surrounded by high walls. Satellite images reveal that the concentration camps built in the deserts of East Turkestan, where hundreds of thousands of Uyghur Turks are kept, have grown three times in the last year. Another lie to refute of these vocational courses is that university graduates, even school teachers, professors, and writers, are taken into. This shows that the aim is not to educate and reintegrate people into society but to digest them. Uyghurs are also forced into slave labor in these camps. Another important indicator that China is committing genocide against the Uyghur people is the policies they have made on women. Female Uyghurs, especially in rural areas, have been ripped off from their dignity and individual rights by forced sterilization and abortion. In late June, German anthropologist Adrian Zenz published a new report detailing a systematic program of forced sterilization and birth control to lower Uyghur birth rates. His findings include that birth rates in Xinjiang's two major Uighur provinces dropped 84 percent from 2015 to 2018; He stated that a mass campaign is being conducted to sterilize 14 to 34 percent of Uyghur women in rural areas of the region.
According to the information we obtained from the interviews given by the women who survived the camp, the drugs, and injections given in the concentration camp sterilize the women. Another policy implemented in the camps other than sterilization is the "Unite and Become a Family" program. Under this program, Han Chinese men can stay in the same house with Uyghur women. The People's Daily confirmed this incident. It was stated that as more Uyghur men were sent to the camp and women were left alone at their homes, 1 million 260 thousand Uighur women whose husbands were taken to the camps were sent to the homes of the Hans men. Han Chinese are encouraged to marry Uighur women. Under this policy, Uyghur girls and their families are pressured. Families who refused marriage proposals were accused of being "Ethnic Separatist" or "Radical Religious" and thrown into a concentration camp. Although the name of this in the media is to get married, this act is nothing but rape by usurping the freedom of marriage and living. There are also women who, after not being able to bear this force and pressure, commit suicide. Another pressure Uyghur women exert on is their religious freedom. The Chinese government has made numerous attempts to prevent Muslim Uighur women from wearing the headscarf and forcibly change their dress habits. Things that symbolize the religion of Islam are considered a crime. Cultural and religious restrictions and pressures against Uyghurs have gradually increased since 2009. While men are restricted from growing beards, women are restricted from wearing long clothes. They are forced to eat during Ramadan, and the people are forced to use alcohol at weddings. And of course, as in every persecution, children are one of the most affected here. In most cases, Uighur children whose parents are kept in camps are sent to state facilities, and as a result, the children are detached from their families. Thus, it becomes easier to separate children from their culture. The prohibitions on religious freedom, the enforcement of ideology in the camps, and the policies regarding children are evidence of cultural genocide. More striking evidence of genocide is the organ trade, a situation that has now gone beyond allegation. The Independent International Court found a significant discrepancy between the number of 'eligible' organ donors in China as 5,146 for 2017. The number of organ transplant operations estimated to be between 60,000 and 90,000 annually in China. So when there are so few volunteer donors, what does it show to have so many organ transplants?
The Chinese government has launched an extensive health check campaign in Xinjiang province in 2016. Tests were only mandatory for Uyghur residents aged 12 to 65 years. Within the framework of this test, the program presented, blood samples are taken (DNA analysis is performed to achieve organ matching and therefore lower rejection rates, that is, a database of suitable donors from blood samples), and sometimes “econography” is also performed. These reviews allow us to visualize the size, shape, and internal structure of an organ. With these dubious medical reports, the Chinese government needed no justification. For many, what is certain is that the purpose of these tests is to build a database of future donors. Although Han Chinese make up more than half of the population in Xinjiang, they are not included in these tests. Therefore, the reason for these tests is to observe them and to identify potential donors in case of any organ need. Thanks to these tests, the government can know and collect the blood type of Uyghurs and the condition of their organs. Statement of a prisoner, Omir Bekali, who was subjected to various medical tests, including ultrasound organ examinations: "Buyers come from all over the world for this organ transplant. These organs are used first to meet the domestic demand and then to be allocated to those who have the opportunity abroad. Since Muslims do not consume alcohol or pork, China is mainly targeting the healthy Muslim population. Evaluating the process of Forced Organ Harvesting from China's Prisoners, the International Independent Court stated in its final report in 2019 that 'although Falun Gong prisoners are probably the main source of organ procurement, there are beyond a doubt indications that China is carrying out forced organ harvesting from Uyghur Turks.' In other words, the Chinese government is killing a very healthy Uyghur citizen for their organs. Erkin Sidick, a consultant to the World Uyghur Congress, is one of the first to warn about the existence of halal organs, summing up various sources: "I received the news that they carry a large number of Uighur organs between Shanghai and Saudi Arabia. The Chinese government uses these halal organs in Saudi Arabia to attract Muslims. So, this is one of the reasons why these few Gulf states (Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates) signed letters of support for China policy. East Turkistan region, Xinjiang province and Kashgar airport allow the transfer of organs. These people are used not only for vital organs but also for beauty products. In July, US customs officials seized a shipment of 13 tons of human hair beauty products, and a video of blindfold inmates taken to train wagons went viral.
Now, an issue that I cannot stress enough in the webinar but I think is very important is the Covid-19 pandemic. The situation of the Uyghur people, who are already trying to survive under difficult conditions, has worsened with the COVID-19 epidemic. The whole world is facing this epidemic due to the Chinese Communist Party's censorship and lack of transparency, and the lack of adequate measures. Governments around the world may be taking various steps to financially support their citizens, but many vulnerable people, especially refugees, are still left behind. This pandemic has added more misery to their daily struggles; many cannot afford rent or electricity bills and cannot afford medical care or basic living costs. Both the situation of Uyghur refugees and the situation of Uyghur people staying in East Turkistan have worsened with the pandemic. Disgusting unhygienic conditions in the camps, and in the light of the information we obtained from the interviews given by the local people, the Uyghur people are forced to drink drugs they are not aware of against COVID-19. As we all know, more or less, countries and companies have entered the race to find vaccines/drugs against COVID-19. This is a race-style that is inspired by capitalistic interests, rather than humanitarian interests, and China is one of the competing countries. But they use the Uyghur people as a test subject. At a time when the coronavirus epidemic was on the rise, Chinese police took a middle-aged Uighur woman to the detention center and dropped her in a cell with dozens of other women there. The woman in custody said she was forced to drink "a weak, nauseating drug" while in the cell, and the guards watched them to the end while she swallowed them. "We were all boiled (burned)." The woman, who asked her name to be kept secret for fear of being punished again, told the AP agency (Associated Press), where she spoke on the phone, "My hands were destroyed, my skin was peeled off." said. What happened came to light after government documents, social media posts, and interviews with three people under quarantine in East Turkistan. In addition, the herbal mixture drug called Qingfei Paidu, which is forcibly taken to the public in East Turkistan, is banned in the USA, Germany, Switzerland, and the rest of the world because it contains high levels of toxins and carcinogens. Former prisoners, the majority of whom were Uighurs, reported that the camps were overcrowded and unsanitary. If the virus gains a foothold here, it can spread from person to person very quickly. "Cramped conditions, poor hygiene, cold, stressed immune systems - this could be a huge disaster," wrote James Millward, a professor of Chinese history at Georgetown University, who closely monitors the Xinjiang camps. The experiences of the Uyghur people are one of the saddest and yet most neglected humanitarian crises in the world today. And as Adrian Zenz, one of the leading researchers on China's mass detention system, put it, "The coronavirus could add a whole new dimension to the Xinjiang crisis.” President of the World Uyghur Congress Dolkun Isa said "China must do everything in its power to prevent the spread of the Wuhan virus to any camp because the consequences will be catastrophic and will likely result in the deaths of tens of thousands of Uighurs arbitrarily detained in the past three years”. Sayragul Saybay, a Kazakh woman who talked about what she witnessed to Haaretz: There were nearly 20 people in a 16 square meter room. Each room had a plastic bucket for the toilet. Each prisoner was given two minutes a day to use the toilet, and the bucket was emptied only once a day. ... Food was bad, there were not enough hours to sleep, and hygiene was disgusting. The result of all this was that the prisoners turned into soulless bodies.” Miserable conditions like these create an excellent breeding ground for infectious diseases. If COVID-19 has spread in camps, it is obvious that China will not be transparent, and we are worried about this. The government had initially censored information about the coronavirus, as it did during the 2003 SARS outbreak. Unfortunately, the situation of the camps is not clear. During this pandemic, the existence of camps with inhumane conditions and the people still being detained there is the most concrete form of the genocide. Why is the world media not questioning this? Why don't the politicians of other countries question them? Its reasons are apparent (economic reasons). But why don't international law organizations develop an effective solution on this issue?
It is high time that we must make more sound and spread more.
Learn More:
https://youtu.be/TKpyaDZkNfU - Guardian News
https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/ - World Uyghur Congress
https://nationalawakening.org/ - East Turkistan National Awakening Movement
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