Everything you need to know about China’s controversial Xinjiang Muslim Camps

This appeared in The Millennial Source

Xinjiang, China’s westernmost region, revised its laws in October 2018 to legitimize the use of “vocation training centers” for Muslim citizens. The stated purpose of these centers is to “educate and transform” individuals identified as potential terrorists. Officials claim that the new laws will help prevent Islamic extremism.

Since the centers were officially sanctioned, accounts from former “trainees” have surfaced in the international press, alleging harsh treatment inside the camps. The reports have sparked global criticism of China’s treatment of minority ethnic groups.

History of ethnic, economic and religious struggles in Xinjiang

Depending on one’s point of view, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army either liberated or invaded Xinjiang province in 1949, with the help of the Soviet Union. In 1955, China established the Xinjiang Uighur (also spelled Uyghur) Autonomous Region.

After China fell out with the Soviet Union in the 1960s, the Chinese government actively relocated Han Chinese — the nation’s largest ethnic group — to Chinese-Soviet border provinces like Xinjiang. One purpose of the relocations was to confront potential military threats from the Soviets.

According to a 2011 study published in the Journal of Eurasian Geography and…