China accused of separating Muslim children from their families
China is reportedly deliberately separating Muslim children from their families, faith and language in the region of Xinjiang.
A campaign exists to build boarding schools for children, while hundreds of thousands of adults are being detained in giant camps.
It comes according to an investigation based on public documents and backed up by dozens of interviews with family members, carried out by the BBC.
BBC reported that during its investigation it found records which show that in one township alone more than 400 children have lost not just one but both parents to some form of internment, either in the camps or in prison.
While efforts to transform the identity of Xinjiang's adults is ongoing, a parallel campaign exists to systematically remove children from their roots also.
In 60 separate interviews carried out by the BBC, grief-ridden parents and relatives gave details of the disappearance of over 100 children in the Xinjiang region.
An editorial in the Global Times, a tabloid run by the official newspaper of the Chinese communist party the People’s Daily, read in response to what it called "fake news" and "rumours":
“Despite China’s efforts to tell what is really happening in Xinjiang, some western media and politicians insist on making and spreading fake news.”
Chinese authorities said that Uighurs, members of Xinjiang's largest, predominantly Muslim ethnic group, are being educated in "vocational training centres" in order to combat violent religious extremism, however, the BBC's investigation shows that many are being detained for simply expressing their faith or for having connections overseas.
