I still remember during my sophomore year when I first read the chilling novel called “Night.” It was not just an ordinary story, but a real memoir that told the truth of Eli Wiesel’s journey about being a survivor in Auschwitz. With every word I read and breath I took while reading the novel, my heart broke for this man’s experience from the traumatic details of the emotional and physical pain he endured each and every day. I could not imagine that this would happen to our generation. Little did I know two years later after reading this story that China was taking a step back in history.
According to the BBC, China has been putting Uyghur Muslims in concentration camps to “prevent terrorism.” In China’s eyes, they are seen as just “re-education” camps to assist Uyghur Muslims to fit in their own version of a “perfect” society. In reality, they are camps that force Muslims to abandon their religious practices for China’s cruel and merciless benefit. Saying that the camps are used to “stop terrorism” is clearly a lie when Muslims do not have any ties whatsoever to such radicalism. These camps are a form of prejudice, and it’s wrong for China to force every citizen in their country to follow the same beliefs the government has.
It frustrates me to hear that this particular topic has not earned a lot of attention in the media. We say that our generation is the voice for the voiceless, and yet, when discrimination occurs in another part of the world, some of us continue to sit and stay silent. As reported by the Epoch Times, China is allowing Uyghur women to be raped or sterilized and other Uyghurs to be “deprived of food and sleep.” The country is abusing the Uyghurs.
How can you stay silent after hearing such cruelty? We must not sit, but instead stand together to raise our voices for Uyghur Muslims. If we do not stand, not only will it reflect how we are as a society, but also how we are as human beings. We must have empathy for every being, no matter their race, age or religion they believe in.
Senator Marco Rubio has tried garnering more attention on this topic by creating a bill called Uyghur Humans Rights Policy Act of 2019. As stated by congress.gov, the policy is to have the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to conduct reports on the mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims. Afterwards, that evidence will be used to raise more awareness in our country.
I was glad to hear that the Senate passed the bill and that our country is trying to educate people on this topic. However, we still need to take action more seriously by engaging with China to end these camps. We need to start writing to our president and senators, organize marches and educate ourselves on this topic to better understand this mistreatment.
If I ever have children in the future, I don’t want them to ask me “why didn’t our country try to help the Uyghur Muslims during this time of crisis?” Instead, I hope that this situation will be resolved in the future, and I will see in history books that our country and generation ended this mistreatment. So, let’s stand together hand in hand and see Uyghur Muslims as important human beings that are in need of activism and help.