Inside Uyghur’s camps: Learn Mandarin, laws

REPORTS OF MASS DETENTIONS AND STRICT SURVEILLANCE OF UIGHURS AND OTHER MUSLIMS HAVE PROMPTED THE U.S. TO CONSIDER SANCTIONS AGAINST CHINESE OFFICIALS

BEIJING: A top Chinese official has for the first time given details of sprawling internment camps for Uyghur Muslims in the remote Xinjiang rehgion, saying the “vocational training institutes” focus on teaching Mandarin, law and anti-extremism to inmates.

The state media interview with Shohrat Zakir, the number two Communist party official and most senior Uighur in Xinjiang, is China’s latest attempt to counter mounting global criticism of the camps, whose existence was denied by Beijing until weeks ago.

“Currently, Xinjiang has established a training model with professional vocational training institutions as the platform, learning the country’s common language, legal knowledge, vocational skills, along with de-extremisation education, as the main content, with achieving employment as the key direction,” said Zakir, chairperson of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

Amid mounting international pressure, it was only last week that China sought to legalise the camps as “vocational training institutes”, where inmates influenced by religious extremism are reeducated and transformed.

A UN human rights body has been vocal in its criticism of the camps, saying they target the minority Uighur community.

Zakir didn’t specify how many camps had been set up or how many people are currently in them. Rights groups have estimated that hundreds of thousands have been sent to the camps for reeducation.

He also didn’t talk about detention in the camps, but explained how inmates could be selected for “vocational training institutes” in carefully chosen words.

“As for most people who are influenced by terrorism and extremism, those suspected of minor criminal offences but do not have to be subject to penalties or can be exempted from criminal punishment, Xinjiang has provided them with free vocational training through vocational education institutions to improve their ability in commanding the country’s common language, acquiring legal knowledge and vocational skills…,” Zakir told the official news agency.

He said despite the significant progress Xinjiang has made in countering terrorism and extremism, it remains a longstanding, complicated and serious issue that calls for a high state of alert.

Zakir’s interview was published on Tuesday, days after senior Communist Party leader You Quan said during a visit to Xinjiang that “sinicisation of religion must be upheld to promote ethnic solidarity and religious harmony”.