Xinjiang cracks down on Muslim minorities

Since the beginning of the year, authorities in China’s far western Xinjiang region have intensified a crackdown against minority citizens, forbidding all cultural expressions and forcing citizens into detention camps.

Most heavily targeted are the Kazakhs and Uyghurs, both groups predominantly Muslim, who are being taken to “political training centers.” Minority citizens are detained for months, kept from their families, tortured, and forced to learn propaganda to supposedly curb “religious extremism.” Xinjiang’s prisons and these centers are so crowded, authorities have started sending detainees to other provinces.

Even outside of these centers, officials forbid any displays of Kazakh or Uyghur culture, from language, to decorations in homes, to imported goods in stores. Studying the Qu’ran or Arabic is also forbidden. During Chinese New Year, authorities ordered Muslims to break halal to eat pork dumplings with their neighbors.

Additionally, authorities also confiscate the passports of any who return to China after visiting Kazakhstan, preventing them from leaving again. One man, Mamajiang Ashandeer, committed suicide after being unable to rejoin his family in Kazakhstan when his passport was taken. His body was not returned to his family, and the government forbade holding a Muslim funeral for him.