When people learn of the cruelty that millions endured during the Holocaust,  they think, “If this occurred during my lifetime, I would definitely stop this torture and dehumanization”. However, few choose to address the genocide currently happening in Xinjiang, China. Currently, over one million Muslim Uighurs are locked up in concentration camps to be “cleansed” of their culture and religion. China claims that the camps are vocational education schools and that the rumors of forced labor are false. How can the world believe this when satellite images have identified hundreds of facilities surrounded by barbed wire, cement walls, and guard towers?

The construction of most of the prisons occurred in 2017 and 2018, and through journalist visits and satellites, over 440 have been identified. China has tried to keep the camps hidden from everyone—even their own population. An online map tool used widely in China, Baidu, masks certain areas and upon further inspection, these masked locations determined where the Muslims were being held. Before any evidence of these camps existed, China’s government denied the rumors of the people they were exterminating but once proper documentation confirmed it, they justified their actions and said that the camps are to prevent extremism and are similar to those found in the US, Great Britain, and France.

Their invalid excuses cannot be accepted; several eyewitnesses confirm the abuse that the imprisoned are suffering. China manipulates the Uighurs for cheap labor by demanding them to manufacture clothes and other products. The women are sexually abused, forced to take birth control, and have abortions to exterminate the Uighur population. They are being brainwashed to forget their culture and true identities. They have to study communist propaganda daily and praise Chinese President Xi Jinping. Those that refuse to comply are handcuffed for twelve hours, and if they continue to resist, they must sit in a “tiger chair” (a torture seat) for lengthy periods. Another form of punishment they endure is waterboarding, which simulates the experience of drowning by pouring gallons of water on their face while they are strapped into a lying down position with their faces up.

This genocide is an issue that is happening in a separate country across the world. Although people do not believe that they themselves can cause a change in this inhumane system, it is possible. By spreading awareness and informing others of the torment Uighur Muslims are dealing with in Xinjiang, the media will address it openly, forcing countries to end the persecutions and prevent China from continuing their violence against minorities.