The United Nations have been informed that China is holding a million Uyghur people in re-education centres.
Uyghur’s are a Muslim minority who predominantly live in Xinjiang province in the north-west of China, where they make up around 45% of the population.
Claims about these re-education camps were raised at a two day UN human rights committee meeting on China.
These centres have been described as a measure to combat religious extremism by China however it is feared that these camps are far more sinister.
Human rights groups claim to have documented mass incarceration without trial and being forced to recite the Communist Party of China’s slogan.
It is also believed that torture is widespread in these camps.
These camps are shrouded in secrecy and some believe that the number of people held in these or similar re-education camps could number as well over two million.
Gay McDougall, a member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination stated that these were ‘political camps for indoctrination’.
There are also reports that many, including students who had been studying abroad, had died in these camps.
China has a long history of persecuting Muslim minorities in the region with millions being killed in 1949 when China became a communist nation.
The Communist Party of China has also been accused of spreading false information about the Uyghur people in the past.
The UN is reportedly extremely concerned by these reports, although it is not yet clear what action will be taken against China.
