"Break their lineage, break their roots, break their connections, and break their origins," said Maisumujiang Maimuer, a member of Chinese religious affairs, on August 10, 2017, through the Xinhua Weibo page. As Maimuer said, China has been destroying the Uyghur people since 2016 by imprisoning them in Xinjiang, located in the northwest of China. But first, who are the Uyghur people?

Uyghur people, also known as Uyghurs, are an ethnic group consisting mostly of Muslims and are currently segregated in Xinjiang. The tragedy began in July 2009, when a conflict between the Han people and the Uyghurs ignited. A dispute between Uyghurs and Han Chinese in the factory caused Uyghurs to riot, which is now known as the Ürümqi riot. The Ürümqi riot resulted in over one-hundred deaths of Uyghur people and caused Uyghurs to take revenge on the Han Chinese. In turn, Uyghurs killed Han Chinese for several years, until 2016, when China declared Uyghurs to be imprisoned in Xinjiang.

According to BBC News, "Who are the Uyghurs and why is China accused of genocide?" There are roughly more than one million Uyghurs detained in the Xinjiang restricted area. China's response to the Uyghur's uprising was extremely harsh. Uyghurs were restricted in their religion, were forced to labor, and women were sexually abused. Currently, there is a debate over whether China's response to the Uyhgurs was the right thing to do, or was it too harsh?

Although the Uyghurs took revenge on the Han Chinese in a crucial way, China's Uyghur genocide can still be viewed as evil. To decide whether China's punishment should be justified or not, it is critical to know the start of this conflict. No matter what, the fact is the Han Chinese massacred the Uyghurs right before the Ürümqi riot. Although the conflict between the Uyghurs and Han Chinese seems to be the fault of the Han Chinese, it is clear that China was unjust. They had punished the Uyghurs instead of the Han Chinese when the Han Chinese killed the Uyghurs from the start. In light of the fact that China punished the unfair victim, its genocide towards the Uyghur is a clear act of evil on its part.

Furthermore, according to BBC News research, in December 2020, about half a million Uyghurs in the restricted area were forced to pick cotton in Xinjiang. This form of coerced labor contradicts China's initial purpose of segregating Uygurs to reduce possible threats. Although the Chinese government declared that they locked up Uyghurs to prevent ongoing conflicts, they instead 'used' Uyghurs for their own profits and economic benefits. Research has further shown that China forced Uyghurs to labor, especially in cotton fields to gain cotton to sell and boost their economic standard.

The evil purpose was revealed further in 2021 when the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) added an additional product China produced through labor: Polysilicon. As stated by the U.S. Department of Labor, polysilicon from China was mainly produced by Muslim minorities in China or Uyghurs. Additional research claims that all goods manufactured by China's labor force were mostly manufactured in Xinjiang. This enhances the possibility that Uyghurs were subjected to much harsher labor.

The effect of such oppressive acts has been detrimental to the Uyghur population. There are about 12 million Uyghurs, but only one million of them are detained in a restricted area, also known as a re-education camp. Then what happened to the rest of the Uyghurs, 11 million people?


Many know Uyghurs' restriction as a positive way to resolve conflicts; some even does not know what Uyhgurs' genocides are, however, the truth is, that Uyghur genocide has its own evil but hidden purposes and the punishment is overwhelmingly excessive. How would you feel if you were forced to be transported to an awkward space to labor for the rest of your life? How would you feel if you suddenly received all the hatred from others and your friends, and were separated from others? These imaginations aren't just simple imaginations, they are true stories that happened to over one million people, and they are stories that 'would' happen to more and more Uyghurs.