The Uighur people have been experiencing a significant amount of oppression within China, but what if I told you this injustice is possibly spreading into other nations. This ethnic group has decided to seek asylum in a variety of nations across Asia and some relocated to southern parts of Australia. The belief of them being safe of their former nation is beginning to be contested as China has begun to build consulate buildings in this part of Australia (where the Uighur have fled to). This is raising concerns of monitoring seeing that the most recent building opened this past week and is only a few kilometers from where the Uighur community reside.
In order to give valuable context, it's crucial we date back our investigation to 2017 when most of the concentration camps began to open and operate in China. They were in retaliation for Uighur protests against the Chinese government’s injustices. China greatly opposed their existence for a few years, but the evidence became so overwhelming that they began to reassign their original purpose.
The Uighur population in Australia can be seen above protesting the erection of the Chinese building near where they live.
Source: Peta Doherty/SBS News
Above we see a picture of Mrs. Yusuf, a member of the Uighur ethnicity who has family back in China who she hasn’t seen in months if not years, some of which have actually seen the inside of the concentration camps and a few that have gone missing completely. Mrs. Yusuf is a great person to follow in order to understand the stresses that this population is experiencing within and even outside of China’s borders. Yusuf’s family has decided to cut communication completely with her because they don’t want to be associated with international calls that call attention to their location and are threatened with the concentration camps. Yusuf’s situation is far from rare. She is familiar with hundreds of other families that are robbed of a sibling or other family member.
So to finish this off, what are the key takeaways from these articles and this blog in general. What is going on? The Uighur ethnic community is being discriminated against within China and is starting to branch out by building buildings near where this population is fleeing to in south Australia. How long as this been going on? The concentration camps within China have been going on for about 4 years now, but the threatening of this population is likely to have preceded them for a significant amount of time. Why specifically the Uighur? There is no reasonable explanation, however the Chinese government has described their beef as counter-terrorism and protests that were orginally in direct action against what the government had already done.
Why is this important to know? Because this is now being considered a genocide and its crucial that we recognize and condemn acts of injustice all across the world.
References
"China: Free Xinjiang 'Political Education' Detainees". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
Forrest, Adam. “Who Are the Uighur People and Why Do They Face Oppression by China?” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 26 Mar. 2021, www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/china-uighur-group-oppression-labour-camps-us-sanctions-human-rights-abuse-a9634396.html
Doherty, Peta. “Adelaide's Uighur Community Fears New Chinese Consulate Building Will Lead to Monitoring.” SBS News, 5 Apr. 2021, www.sbs.com.au/news/adelaide-s-uighur-community-fears-new-chinese-consulate-building-will-lead-to-monitoring.
Dou, Eva. “Who Are the Uighurs, and What's Happening to Them in China?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 12 Feb. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/02/11/china-uighurs-genocide-xinjiang/
Ching, Nike. “US Classifies China's Policies Toward Uighurs as 'Genocide' .” Voice of America, 19 Jan. 2021, www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/voa-news-china/us-classifies-chinas-policies-toward-uighurs-genocide.
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