lørdag 5. mars 2022

Hundreds of Uyghurs said to be detained in camp in Xinjiang’s Manas county

Nearly 800 Uyghurs are being held in a detention camp in Manas county in northwestern China’s Xinjiang, said an official from the area who previously worked at the facility. Manas county (in Chinese, Manasi) is part of the Changji Hui (Changji Huizu) Autonomous Prefecture and covers an area of nearly 9,200 square kilometers (3,550 square miles).

The camp is divided into two adjacent sections, with one housing about 500 male detainees and the other holding about 270 women — all of whom are ethnic minority Uyghurs, said the official, who did not give his name but said he worked at the detention center for four months. The official also said that the Uyghur inmates had been arrested for committing “serious crimes,” such as praying, and that inside the facility they learned “the national language” of Mandarin Chinese.

“They were divided by an iron fence — males about 500 and females about 270,” he said. “There was no torture of women. They were taught Chinese. These ones [committed] serious crimes — people who prayed five times a day.”