China’s far northwestern region of Xinjiang has retroactively legalized the use of internment camps where up to one million Muslims are being held.
Amid sustained international criticism, Chinese authorities have revised legislation to allow the regional government to officially permit the use of “education and training centers” to incarcerate “people influenced by extremism”.
Chinese authorities deny that the internment camps exist but say petty criminals are sent to vocational “training centers”. Former detainees say they were forced to denounce Islam and profess loyalty to the Communist party in what they describe as political indoctrination camps.
The new legislation directs the centers to teach the Mandarin language and provide occupational and legal education, as well as “ideological education, psychological rehabilitation and behavior correction”. The new legislation also bars “refusing public goods like radio and television.”
Existing laws already banned Uighur and other minorities from having more children than their Han Chinese counterparts. In addition, wearing of veils is disallowed, as well as refusing to listen to public radio and television broadcasts.
Beijing has spent decades trying to suppress the local culture and any pro-independence sentiment in Xinjiang. Part of Beijing's long-term strategy is to implement a massive influx of Han Chinese and encourage Han-ownership of local businesses.
Members of Uighur, Kazakh and other Muslim minorities who live abroad say they have not been able to contact relatives in China, while authorities are placing children separated from their detained or exiled parents into dozens of state-run orphanages across Xinjiang.
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