The persecution of Uighurs in China
Now a diplomatic issue, the question of the Uighurs is currently generating strong reactions from the international community. This issue reveals the essential role played by social networks in its mediatisation, and shows us that the persecution of a specific population, akin to genocide (although this notion has not yet been officially attributed to the case of the Uighurs), has not disappeared. History seems then to repeat itself rather than serve as a lesson to us in order to avoid repeating past events.
[Warnings: this articles contains sensitive topics such as torture]
Who are the Uighurs living in the North West of China?
The Uighurs are a Sunni Turkic-speaking people with a Muslim majority. They have been living in northwest China for a thousand years and, according to the Chinese government, there are now nearly twelve million Uighurs. Descendants of ancient nomads who settled in the region in the 8th century, they have long cohabited with other populations such as the Mongols, Kazakhs and members of the Han ethnic group, the majority in China. However, the annexation of their territory by China in 1949, later renamed Xinjiang (literally "new frontiers"), caused many tensions within the Uighur population and its territory. A few years later, in 2014, a series of attacks by Uighur terrorists exacerbated the already existing tensions between the Chinese government and the province of Xinjiang.
What is currently happening for the Uighurs in China?
Xi Jinping, known for his authoritarian behaviour, decided in 2014 to tighten its repressive policy against terrorism and Islamism. He ordered the confinement in internment camps of several dozen Uighurs suspected of being "radicalised". An implementation justified by Xi Jinping, in secret documents revealed by the New York Times, as a duty to use "the tools of popular dictatorship to eliminate radical Islam in Xinjiang province". This seven-year campaign of mass repression is now experiencing a surge of media attention following the discovery of videos filming the living conditions of Uighurs in and outside the camps. When Uighurs are not interned, they are constantly monitored and controlled by the authorities using Chinese artificial intelligence video surveillance, facial recognition and DNA collection. A pervasive and oppressive system that resembles a dystopia in which individuals are framed as criminals, and liable to be arrested and locked up at any time. When they are judged to be a 'threat' in a trial that defines the length of their incarceration, they are locked up in camps and spend most of their time in a room of approximately 20 m2, with about sixty other people, forced to live in an almost unhygienic environment. Today, more than three million Uyghurs are said to be locked up in these camps.
Uighurs waiting for trains to arrive to take them to camps, with shaved heads,
blindfolds and hands tied behind their backs, west of Korla (city in Xinjiang).
This capture from a video filmed by a drone and published on 17 September 2019 on the
anonymous account "War on Fear战斗恐惧", is believed to date from April 2019.
What are the Uighurs subjected to in these camps?
Many survivors' testimonies mention torture, rape and sex trafficking, forced sterilisations and abortions, biological tests, forced labour, formal obligations such as eating pork and drinking alcohol (forbidden in Islam), starvation, and severe illness. Some disappear without a trace, and others return home not recognising their relatives. More than three million Uighurs are victims of this mistreatment, combined with brainwashing to annihilate their ethnic and religious identity. For the indoctrination and annihilation programme of the Uighur culture, they are subjected to learn Mandarin, Chinese history and law and patriotic songs to the glory of Xi Jinping and communism every day. The aim is for them to become "good Chinese" in the image of the Chinese authorities. According to several reports, this Chinese desire is not limited to the borders of Xinjiang, but extends to those of Europe. A situation that reflects the real threat of this oppression when Uighurs living in France are harassed, threatened or even contacted by the Chinese embassy to "come and collect a parcel"; when it is really a question of arresting them as soon as they arrive on Chinese soil. Faced with this, France publicly condemned for the first time, in September 2020, these acts and participated in the release of several Uighurs living in France before their arrest by China.
From then on, the testimonies and associations for the defence and promotion of the Uighur diaspora have been fighting to warn the world population about the violence committed in China. The proliferation of these associations has made it possible to free the voice of the survivors and to offer a voice that is increasingly heard by the victims.
What were the international reactions to this "discovery"?
Although long suspected, it was only in August 2018, after denying the existence of the camps, that Xi Jinping's government confirmed the existence of "re-education and vocational training camps" for Uighurs. In trying to justify these actions, many criticise a radical change of behaviour from the Chinese president. Behind his speeches, there is criticism of the unofficial reasons for the confinement of the Uighurs; a thoughtful and strategic act in a territory that has a role to play in the new silk road. In order to consolidate his power over China and ensure the control and loyalty of the country's inhabitants, Xi Jinping is said to have opted for the eradication of this population, which is perceived as an obstacle to China's desire for unity. From then on, in shock and indignation, many associations and witnesses launched appeals to the world to condemn these acts. Although still little reported by the television media, this subject is now shared massively on social media such as Twitter or Instagram. These initiatives allow the reality of the Uighurs' living conditions to be conveyed and to save Uyghur culture, which is gradually being suppressed in China (cultural heritage destroyed, teaching of the Uighur language in schools is being stopped, marriages between Uighurs and Hans -the majority ethnic group in China- favoured...). China's actions are condemned by the majority of Internet users around the world who call on the UN and their states to act to protect the persecuted Uighurs. Nevertheless, in a diplomatic context, international reactions remain limited.
The United States, China's main rival, is sure to confront China by making its position clear, as early as December 2019, on this Chinese repression. The adoption by Congress of a text condemning the policy of internment carried out by the Chinese authorities towards the minority in the province of Xinjiang, provided for the implementation of sanctions against senior Chinese officials. The objective for the world's leading power was clear: "We are sending a message to Beijing that America is watching and will not remain silent," said Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The arm wrestling between China and the West is gradually intensifying, particularly with the multiplication of sanctions against Beijing. The European Union, for its part, had already targeted four Chinese leaders for human rights violations, who were henceforth banned from entering Europe because they were judged to be responsible for the Uyghur persecution. More recently, it decided to put pressure on China by voting to exclude any review of the EU-China investment agreement if Beijing maintains its counter-sanctions (following those of the European Union) on European diplomats. China, which refutes all these accusations despite the tangible evidence, is therefore not letting itself be criticised and is not remaining silent since it has multiplied its sanctions against countries that express their opposition to the latter.
International relations are today marked by this dispute which divides countries sharply and shows that China's influence in the world is growing while allowing it to remain untouchable. The dependence of the world's countries on China's economic and diplomatic power shows a limit to the possibility of opposing China and to the right of interference of the UN, which is unable, real or feigned, to alienate China. One can therefore question the means of action of these different actors, in a situation dominated by China and in which the aim is to maintain stable international relations in order to avoid conflict. This situation also demonstrates the limits of the international order established by the UN and highlights the heterogeneity of the negotiating power of countries which deepens their hierarchy in the international order. However, this desire to preserve the international order at all costs, without upsetting China, seems to position the persecution of the Uighurs as a secondary matter of little importance. Does history seem to be repeating itself, showing us that diplomacy has always been more important than human suffering?
The recent highlighting of the exploitation of Uighurs in factories for international brands such as Nike or Zara has triggered a more virulent resurgence of tensions between the West and China. Today, it is the lack of reaction from Muslim countries and the role of the UN in monitoring this repression that is causing debate and reinforcing divisions. The organisation, which has witnessed a strong division between its members, has not really intervened in this case, despite warnings to China. This situation reinforces hostilities in the face of the existence of a UN Security Council, of which China is a member, which can impose its veto right and continue its repression against the Uighur population. Today, the debates on the qualification of the latter as "genocide" reinforce the seriousness of the situation and its need to be stopped.
Testimonies of victims or witnesses of the repression of Uyghurs:
"I am testifying with my face hidden, because I don't want to get into trouble (...). My family still lives there, and I don't want my testimony to affect their safety." - Anonymous
"When these people [Uyghurs with serious illnesses] are returned to their families, they really have two, three days to live. There were pictures of people with deformed heads, who had undergone biological tests." - Gulhumar Haitiwaji (daughter of a Chinese camp victim)
"Even though I have my life back, my health is not the same. My eyesight has gone down a lot. I have health problems, back pain, joint pain, and my memory is also deteriorating. Moreover, I get scared easily. "Gulbahar Haitiwaji (camp survivor)
"When I was released, I went straight to the hospital, but one of my sons died the next day. I asked to see my son in hospital, but they wouldn't let me see him." - Mihrigul Tursun (Uighur survivor)
"[During interrogations] They put a metal device with electric wires on your head (...). When you are tortured with electric shocks, you think it is better to die, because the pain goes through you everywhere, to the veins and bones." - Mihrigul Tursun
"Its [China's] goal is that Uyghurs should not exist. The difference should not exist." - Dilnur Reyhan (French Uyghur researcher and president of the Uyghur Institute of Europe)
"There are testimonies of Chinese teachers who have fled elsewhere and who tell of the terrible conditions in the children's camps, where they are crammed together like animals (...), the children screaming, crying for their mothers." - Dilnur Reyhan
"Why doesn't China kill them all at once? Or make them disappear at once? China has the means, of course. China, it gives importance to its international image. (...) if nobody had reacted, it would have done so already." - Dilnur Reyhan
"How can we help the Uyghurs? As an individual, there is a lot of work to do. First of all, inform yourself of what is happening, follow the news (...) inform others, your entourage, your colleagues, your family, your friends... Then, in a second step, write to your deputies, to your elected representatives so that they react and make this tragedy heard in the hemicycle, in the national assembly. Ask the government to close the concentration camps. If you are students, you can protest in your university so that your university asks the Chinese universities to release the Uyghur academics." - Dilnur Reyhan
Useful sources for more information:
• Uyghur woman bears witness to persecution in China
• Who are the Uyghurs, China's Muslim minority?
• Website of the Uyghur Institute of Europe (also on Instagram, and Facebook)
• Uyghur survivor Mihrigul Tursun's story
• The heartbreaking testimony of Omir, a Uyghur tortured in China
Source of video and images:
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