More than a million Muslims have been arbitrarily detained in China’s Xinjiang region. The reeducation camps are just one part of the government’s crackdown on Uyghurs.

How did it get so bad?

Most of the people who have been detained are Uyghur, a predominantly Turkic-speaking ethnic group primarily in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang. Beyond the detentions, Uyghurs in the region have been subjected to intense surveillance, forced labor, and involuntary sterilizations, among other rights abuses.

The World's Response

The United States and several other foreign governments have described China’s actions in Xinjiang as genocide, while the UN human rights office said that the violations could constitute crimes against humanity. Chinese officials have said that they have not infringed on Uyghurs’ rights and claimed that they closed the reeducation camps in 2019. However, international journalists and researchers have documented an ongoing system of mass detention throughout the region using satellite images, individual testimonies, and leaked Chinese government documents.

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When did mass detentions of Muslims start?

China has been heavily criticized for its treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. According to international researchers and U.S. government officials, an estimated 800,000 to 2 million Uyghurs and other Muslims have been detained since 2017. Chinese officials refer to these detention centers as "vocational education and training centers," while international media and researchers use terms such as reeducation camps, internment camps, and detention camps. However, some activists argue that the facilities are more akin to concentration camps. The Chinese government claims that these centers are necessary to combat terrorism and extremism, but many have accused them of being used for political indoctrination, forced labor, and torture.

Outside of the camps, the Uyghur population has faced ongoing oppression from Chinese authorities. The Chinese Communist Party's efforts to "Sinicize" religion have resulted in a crackdown on Uyghur culture and Islam, leading to the destruction of mosques, the banning of Islamic practices, and the mass surveillance of Uyghur communities. The Xinjiang region has been a source of tension between Uyghurs and the Chinese government for decades, as many Uyghurs view it as their homeland and have sought independence from China.

What do Chinese officials say about the camps?

Government officials first denied the camps’ existence. By late 2018, they started acknowledging that there were “vocational education and training centers” in Xinjiang. They publicly stated that the camps had two purposes: to teach Mandarin, Chinese laws, and vocational skills, and to prevent citizens from becoming influenced by extremist ideas, to “nip terrorist activities in the bud,” according to a government report. Pointing out that Xinjiang has not experienced a terrorist attack since December 2016, officials claimed the camps have prevented violence.

Why is China targeting Uyghurs in Xinjiang?

Chinese officials have expressed concern that Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority group living in the Xinjiang region, hold extremist and separatist beliefs that pose a threat to China's territorial integrity, government, and population. The region has been a point of contention since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took power in 1949, with some Uyghurs advocating for independence from China and referring to the region as East Turkestan. Xinjiang spans one-sixth of China's landmass and shares borders with eight countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan.

Under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the CCP has sought to Sinicize religion, meaning to shape all religions to conform to the officially atheist party's doctrines and the customs of the majority Han-Chinese society. While the government recognizes five religions, including Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Islam, and Protestantism, it has long been concerned that religious practice could be used to incite separatism, particularly by foreign actors.

To address these concerns, the Chinese government has established "re-education" camps in Xinjiang, which it claims are meant to combat extremism and terrorism. However, reports from human rights organizations and former detainees suggest that the camps are used to indoctrinate Uyghurs with CCP propaganda and suppress their cultural and religious identity. The treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang has drawn international criticism, with many countries and organizations calling for an end to what they consider to be human rights violations.

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