An Ongoing Genocide

By Andrew Quist

International law experts published a report on March 9 that documents serious atrocities committed by the People’s Republic of China against the Uyghurs, an ethnic minority in Xinjiang province. The authors conclude that the Chinese government is committing “an ongoing genocide” and violating every provision of the UN Genocide Convention. According to the report, more than 1 million Uyghurs have been detained in concentration camps, where they are victims of sexual assault and torture. Through brainwashing and forced sterilization, China is attempting to destroy the Uyghur people as a society. A summary of the report is available at CNN here.

BBC News recently published their own report documenting first-hand accounts of sexual and physical abuse committed against the Uyghurs in concentration camps, available here.

The personal tragedies these reports highlight are important, because research on genocide and mass atrocities has shown that we become numb and emotionally indifferent to statistics of mass suffering. Individual stories of victims are far more effective at eliciting compassion and empathy, which in turn motivate us to help.

You can help the Uyghurs by contacting your representative and letting them know that you value the Uyghurs and their society and you would like to see your government support Uyghur refugees and pressure China to end the genocide. A newly proposed bill in the US Congress called the Uyghur Human Rights Protection Act would allow Uyghurs fleeing persecution in China to forgo a United Nations referral and apply directly for asylum in the US as refugees.