There is a genocide occuring in the Xinjiang region of China that is not receiving as much media attention as it should be.
For years, evidence that shows China’s mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims has been compiled and made public online.
According to a report by Reuters, an estimated 1.5 million Uyghur Muslims are being held in internment camps.
The men are being forced to drink alcohol and eat pork, which goes against the teachings of Islam.
The children of Uyghur Muslims are not exempt from cruelty. Many have been taken from their families and sent to boarding schools, which have been designed to instill loyalty to China and the Communist Party, according to a report by The New York Times in 2019.
Even more disturbing is the treatment of the Uyghur Muslim women.
In 2019, The Independent reported the women were being forced to share beds with male government officials, who were assigned to monitor their homes after their husbands were detained in the internment camps.
This was part of China’s “Pair Up and Become Family” program, in which Han Chinese members of the Communist party were sent to live with Uyghur families in order to “promote ethnic unity,” according to an unnamed Chinese official.
The goal was for the officials to push the ideologies of the Communist Party of China onto the Uyghur women.
The horrors don’t end there.
In September 2020, a gynecologist who worked for the Chinese government under the guise of population control appeared on ITV News to provide an account of her harrowing experience.
The gynecologist, who wished to remain unnamed to protect her identity, stated she had performed at least “500 to 600” operations on Uyghur women, including forced contraception, forced abortion, forced sterilisation and forced removal of wombs.
The genocide and atrocities of this nature recall holocaust horrors.
Several national and international newspapers have reported on the genocide, but there seems to be a lack of widespread media coverage.
It has not received the same amount of coverage as other recent social movements, such as Black Lives Matter.
There are virtually no celebrities or public figures speaking out against the disturbing acts occurring in China.
Perhaps the most attention the genocide has received came this month, when calls to boycott Disney’s live-action remake of “Mulan” began growing on social media.
The controversy arose after it was revealed that some scenes from the film were shot in the Xiang region of China, where the Ugyhur Muslims are being held.
Disney specifically thanked government entities in the Xiang region, turning a blind eye to the catastrophe.
Past comments from the film’s lead actress, Liu Yifei, also resurfaced.
Yifei had voiced her disapproval of the protests against China’s crackdown on dissent and support for the Hong Kong police in 2019.
While it’s good the #BoycottMulan hashtag sparked conversation, it shouldn’t have taken a Disney film to get more people talking about a genocide that has been happening for years.
Not enough people have raised their voices against China’s actions, nor are enough people even aware of the situation.
Widespread action needs to be taken and more public figures should be using their platforms to bring awareness to this important issue.
Silence will not bring change.