Amidst restrictions on religious activities for Uighurs in China, their family members abroad recall how the Chinese state policed the fasting month, compelling children to eat at schools.
Elderly Muslim men break their fast at Hotan Jiaman Mosque during Ramadan in Hotan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, in April 2021. / Photo: Reuters Archive
During this month, it becomes difficult to bring joy and tranquillity not only to around 10 million Uighurs and several other predominantly Muslim groups living in Xinjiang, China's largest region, covering one-sixth of its total territory and with a population of 25 million but also to the Uighur diaspora around the world, who remain cut off from their families for years.
“Typically, our schools didn't provide meals, and there were no cafeterias. However, during Ramadan, food started to be distributed to discourage students from fasting. I was in middle school at that time. I recall a teacher distributing watermelons at school and checking if the students were eating them. Any student not eating would receive a warning.”
"We typically used WeChat, a Chinese version of WhatsApp. All my relatives, including my mother, disconnected from me on that app. They expressed concern, saying, 'Let's refrain from communication; it could be dangerous for us.' I didn't insist. And a year after this cutoff, all WeChat accounts belonging to Uighurs abroad were closed, rendering them inaccessible. I lost touch with them completely.
As the UN notes credible allegations of torture, ill-treatment including forced medical treatment, adverse detention conditions, and individual incidents of sexual violence concerning persons held in VETC facilities, these"transformation-through-education centres" are reportedly arbitrarily detaining up to 1 million individuals, along with at least hundreds of thousands who have been sent to...
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