‘It’s going to get worse’: Uyghur woman speaks out about China’s ‘terrifying’ detention regime

Over 400 pages of leaked internal Chinese government documents published by The New York Times have revealed details of the detention of more than a million Muslims and other minorities at camps in north-west China.

The camps in China’s Xingiang province were set up in 2016, and more than a million Uyghur Muslims are now detained.

The Chinese Communist Party maintains the camps are used for re-education purposes, to curb Islamic extremism, but reports from Uyghurs who have escaped the camps say the conditions are akin to the concentration camps of Nazi Germany.

Nuria Khasim, a Melbourne-born Uyghur woman, said she fears her people may be wiped out.

“As seen in the leaked documents, the Chinese government repeatedly uses this language of ‘disease’ … people are infected with ‘an ideological illness’,” she told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell.

“Because of how vague this is it means that over a million people have been detained without trial, without evidence.

“There are allegations of rape, torture, Muslims are forced to denounce their religion, learn the Chinese language, praise the Chinese Communist Party who is responsible for their detention. Most recently there have been allegations of morgues being built within closer vicinity of these supposed re-education centres.

“The concern of extermination is very real for us. It’s a slow-moving genocide, but perhaps not so slow-moving anymore.”

Ms Khasim urged the Australian government, and the international community, to take firm action against China.

“It’s going to get worse,” she said.

“I think the Australian government should actually be imposing, alongside the International community, economic sanctions and trade embargoes on China, because it is only these uses of hard economic power that can potentially threaten the Chinese government.

“Public condemnation is not enough.

“This government is running rampant and it is completely trampling on everything that the Australian community supposedly holds dear.”

Press PLAY below to watch the full interview.