Islamic Nations Turn Blind Eye to Uyghur Genocide

As of now it is estimated that over 2 million Uyghur Muslims are imprisoned inside of Chinese Concentration Camps.  China has tried to justify the incarceration by stating that this is being done in response to terrorist attacks and that their efforts are aimed to de-radicalize the populace.  However, it fails to account for the fact that the overwhelming majority of the Uyghur's are not radicalized, nor does it account for the fact that many of the Uyghur's that are imprisoned are citizens of other nations such as Kazakhstan who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when China began their terrible crackdown.  

Camp survivors and Human Rights activists have testified that the imprisoned Uyghur's have been subject to ongoing human rights violations that included forced abortions & forced sterilization, rape, beatings, torture, and execution.  Though it cannot be determined how many Uyghur's have been murdered outright, human rights activists nevertheless confirm that at least 1.5 million have been incarcerated in camps or in Communist Boarding Schools and have also determined that the birthrate among the Uyghur populace has dropped an astounding 60%.  

What is equally alarming to this horrific persecution is the indifference that Islamic nations are showing to this ongoing crisis.  Over the years, the leaders of these nations have long professed "Islamic solidarity."  Though many voice support for the Palestinian Arabs ongoing conflict against Israel as well as for the past plights of Muslims in Bosnia and later Kosovo, the nations are not doing so in regards to this issue.  When 22 mostly Western nations voted at the United Nations to condemn China's actions against the Uyghur's, not a single Islamic nation supported this condemnation.  In fact, many nations such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., and others voted in favor of China and actually praised their human rights records!  

What is the reason for this blatant and obvious hypocrisy?  The answer is economic interest.  China wields formidable economic influence over many Islamic nations.  Saudi Arabia is China's biggest trading partner.  In the nation of Pakistan, which claims to champion Muslim struggles worldwide, criticizing China is taboo as the nation has bailed Pakistan out on several occasions.  Other Muslim states such as Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, also rely heavily on China for trade.  Azeem Ibrahim, a director of the Center for Global Policy stated that the refusal of the leaders of Islamic nations world-wide to condemn China stems from their "economic partnership" with the nation, and to condemn their actions would be too much of a political cost.  Nevertheless, Azeem, like many others, believes that politics should not be a fact in the issue of human rights and that the refusal of the Islamic nations to condemn China makes them complicit in this atrocity.  

Sources:

Hill, Matthew, David Campanale, & Joel Gunter.  "Their Goal is to Destroy Everyone: Uighur Camp Detainees Allege Systematic Rape."  BBC.  Feb. 02, 2021.  Accessed from  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55794071.

Marsh, Jenni.  "From a Golden Gun to a Bear Hug...Saudi Prince's Asia Tour Tells the West: You May Shun Me, but I'm not Alone."  CNN.  Feb. 24, 2019.  Accessed from  https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/23/asia/mbs-saudi-arabia-crown-prince-asia-tour-round-up-intl/index.html.

Qiblawi, Tamara.  "Muslim Nations are Defending China as it Cracks Down on Muslims, Shattering Any Myths of Islamic Solidarity."  CNN.  July 17, 2019.  Accessed from https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/17/asia/uyghurs-muslim-countries-china-intl/index.html.