{"id":1268,"date":"2019-12-12T23:27:50","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T14:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/?p=1268"},"modified":"2019-12-12T23:27:50","modified_gmt":"2019-12-12T14:27:50","slug":"china-uighurs-detainees-free-after-graduating-official-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/2019\/12\/12\/china-uighurs-detainees-free-after-graduating-official-says\/","title":{"rendered":"China Uighurs: Detainees &#8216;free&#8217; after &#8216;graduating&#8217;, official says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A senior Chinese official has said that all of the people sent to detention centres in the western region of Xinjiang have now been released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regional government chairman Shohrat Zakir told reporters those held in what Beijing say are &#8220;re-education camps&#8221; had now &#8220;graduated&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is not possible to independently verify Mr Zakir&#8217;s claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rights groups say the camps are actually high-security prisons, holding hundreds of thousands of Muslims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beijing has always denied this, despite the prevalence of high-security features, like watchtowers and razor wire, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-asia-china-50511063\">leaked documents detailing how inmates at the so-called centres are locked up, indoctrinated and punished<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is Beijing saying?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mr Zakir told reporters in the Chinese capital on Monday that everyone in the centres had completed their courses and &#8211; with the &#8220;help of the government&#8221;- had &#8220;realised stable employment [and] improved their quality of life&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-asia-china-50511063\">Leak reveals how China &#8216;brainwashes&#8217; Uighurs in prison camps<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-asia-47157111\">&#8216;I spent seven days of hell in Chinese camps&#8217;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-asia-china-49956088\">The leading Uighur geographer who vanished in China<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said that, in future, training would be based on &#8220;independent will&#8221; and people would have &#8220;the freedom to come and go&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p07gdrgp.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>Media captionThe BBC&#8217;s John Sudworth meets Uighur parents in Turkey who say their children are missing in China<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BBC China correspondent John Sudworth points out it is not possible to verify the claims, as access for journalists is tightly controlled and it&#8217;s impossible to contact local residents without placing them at risk of detention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In recent months, independent reports have suggested that some camp inmates are being released, only to face house arrest, other restrictions on their movement or forced labour in factories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What could be behind the move?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pressure has been increasing on Beijing in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A number of high-profile media reports based on leaks to the New York Times and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) have shone a spotlight on what is happening at the network of centres, which are believed to hold more than a million people, mainly Uighur Muslims and other minorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then last week,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-us-canada-50653864\">the US House of Representatives passed a bill to counter what it calls the &#8220;arbitrary detention, torture, and harassment&#8221; of the Uighurs<\/a>, calling for&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/116th-congress\/senate-bill\/178\/text\">&#8220;targeted sanctions&#8221;<\/a>&nbsp;on members of the Chinese government &#8211; and names the Communist Party secretary in the Xinjiang autonomous region, Chen Quanguo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-china-50584928\">China rebukes US for backing Hong Kong protesters<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-china-49317695\">Hong Kong protests explained in 100 and 500 words<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-49968126\">US blacklists China entities over &#8216;Uighur abuse&#8217;<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bill still needs approval from the Senate and from President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Mr Zakir used the press conference to dismiss the numbers detained as &#8220;pure fabrication&#8221;, reiterating Beijing&#8217;s argument that the centres were needed to combat violent religious extremism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p07w3rdd.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>Media caption&#8221;An electric baton to the back of the head&#8221; &#8211; a former inmate described conditions at a secret camp to the BBC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;When the lives of people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang were seriously threatened by terrorism, the US turned a deaf ear,&#8221; Mr Zakir said at a press briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Now that Xinjiang society is steadily developing and people of all ethnicities are living and working in peace, the US feels uneasy, and attacks and smears Xinjiang.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What&#8217;s going on in Xinjiang?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reports of widespread detentions first began to emerge in 2018, when a UN human rights committee was told there were credible allegations that China had &#8220;turned the Uighur autonomous region into something that resembles a massive internment camp&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rights groups also say there&#8217;s growing evidence of oppressive surveillance against people living in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Chinese authorities said the &#8220;vocational training centres&#8221; were being used to combat violent religious extremism. However, evidence showed many people were being detained for simply expressing their faith, by praying or wearing a veil, or for having overseas connections to places like Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/news.files.bbci.co.uk\/include\/idt2\/assets\/3cd03932-8e02-49da-8dfe-94b7635a312a_wide_fallback\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Records seen by the BBC show China has deliberately been separating Muslim children from their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is an attempt to &#8220;raise a new generation cut off from original roots, religious beliefs and their own language&#8221;, Dr Adrian Zenz, a German researcher, told&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-asia-china-48899475\">BBC News earlier this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I believe the evidence points to what we must call cultural genocide.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">China&#8217;s ambassador to the UK said the allegations were &#8220;lies&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p07g8ljj.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>Media captionChinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming dismisses evidence of a separation campaign in Xinjiang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Related Topics<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A senior Chinese official has said that all of the people sent to detention centres in the western region of Xinjiang have now been released. &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4,5],"class_list":["post-1268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-human-rights","tag-mass-detention"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1270,"href":"http:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1268\/revisions\/1270"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}