China's Religious Re-Education Camps

Up to one million people in China have been detained by the Chinese government because of their religion. Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Muslims in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) have been arrested by the Chinese authorities and imprisoned in re-education camps. People have been arrested and imprisoned for having 'abnormal' beards, for wearing veils or for avoiding alcohol. In fact people have been arrested for any sign of religious belief or cultural affiliation.

Amnesty International has created an interactive map from the reports given to them by relatives around the world. The map tells the stories of many Uighur citizens, most of them who live abroad, who have relatives that have been arrested and detained by the Chinese. You can view and explore the interactive map in Amnesty's Up To One Million Detained in China's Mass Re-education Drive.

One reason why many Uighur have been arrested is that they are suspected of having foreign contacts. This has resulted in many Uighur living abroad being wary of reporting missing relatives and for Uighurs living in China being unwilling and unable to contact relatives living abroad.