China Must Free Our Parents from the Concentration Camps

In the video Op-Ed above, three #Chinese citizens whose parents disappeared demand their release from China’s “re-education camps.” The government is estimated to have detained over one million people. The goal: to force #China’s Uyghur ethnic majority to assimilate.

China’s decades-long campaign against the #Uyghurs have surged in recent years through the construction of hundreds of detention camps. Even outside of detention centers, millions of Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang region live in a virtual prison.

The surveillance state deploys sophisticated technology, including facial recognition tracking, compulsory apps that monitor mobile phones, and even DNA collection.

China has justified its actions as a fight against religious extremism within the predominantly ethnic Uyghurs and other #Turkic groups. The state has also defended the camps as “boarding schools” for job retraining. Yet community leaders, including secular citizens and academics, have been targeted for detention.

The international community has widely condemned China’s actions. The United States Congress is considering legislation to do so. And, in late July, China claimed to have released most detainees — yet experts and on-the-ground reporting suggest that the detention camps persist, and are even expanding.

If you are concerned about the situation in East #Turkistan ( #Xinjiang #Uyghur Autonomous region ) here is some action you can take.