(Hotan, Xinjiang (East Turkistan)—June 24, 2018) 40 Uyghur people in China’s northwestern Xinjiang (East Turkistan) were sent to “reformation camps” for refusing to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, which took place on June 18.
According to World Uyghur Congress spokesman Dilxat Raxit, local authorities forced Uyghur people join with the Han people, China’s ethnic majority, in celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival. Officially, the government claimed this would create a harmonious relationship between the two ethnicities, but Raxit claims that they really meant to suppress the Uyghur’s largely Islamic culture.
The authorities’ actions back his observations. 40 Uyghurs from the Hotan, Kashgar, and Aksu regions of Xinjiang (East Turkistan) who did not participate were detained in reformation camps, or detention centers known for targeting and torturing minority groups. Additionally, more than 100 families were fined for refusing to eat zongzi, or leaf-wrapped rice dumplings common during the festival. Raxit said, “The officials fined the residents 50-1,000 yuan ($7.69-$153.71 USD) and required them to write a letter of guarantee as a promise that they would never participate in any illegal religious activities and would celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival from now on.”
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