Muslim Uyghurs in China Fined, Sent to 'Study Classes' For Observing Ramadan
Two weeks into Ramadan, authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have handed down punishments to at least 100 ethnic minority Muslims for breaking the ruling Chinese Communist Party's restrictions around observance of the religious fasting month, an exile group has said. Since Muslims in China began observing dawn-to-dusk fasting and other restrictions on May 27, the government has been imposing fines and other sanctions on any state employees who refuse to eat in the middle of the day, according to the World Uyghur Congress, which represents the mostly Muslim Uyghur ethnic group in exile.
"Since the beginning of Ramadan, at least 100 people have been punished for breaking the Chinese government's policies on Ramadan in Kashgar and Hotan [in Chinese, Hetian]," the group's spokesman Dilxat Raxit told RFA. "Some of them were fined, while others were sent to compulsory reeducation classes aimed at opposing religious extremism," he said. "They are now being forcibly brainwashed, while others were fined 500 yuan."
