{"id":4219,"date":"2018-10-19T21:46:57","date_gmt":"2018-10-19T21:46:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iuhrdf.org\/en\/2018\/10\/19\/china-putting-uighur-children-orphanages-even-if-their-parents-are-alive\/"},"modified":"2018-10-19T21:46:57","modified_gmt":"2018-10-19T21:46:57","slug":"china-putting-uighur-children-orphanages-even-if-their-parents-are-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/china-putting-uighur-children-orphanages-even-if-their-parents-are-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"China is putting Uighur children in ‘orphanages’ even if their parents are alive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chinese authorities are putting the children of Uighurs<\/a> and other ethnic minority groups into dozens of state-run orphanages across the western Xinjiang<\/a> region even if their parents are not dead, as some 1 million adults in their families are sent to internment camps.<\/span><\/p>\n

The orphanages are the most recent manifestation of Beijing\u2019s efforts to systematically distance young Muslims in Xinjiang from their families and culture. Uighurs fear such efforts are erasing their ethnic identity, one child at a time. <\/span><\/p>\n

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In Istanbul<\/a>, a dozen Uighur families spoke to reporters during the Muslim holy festival Eid al-Adha, which comes with large family reunions. Tables in every home were resplendent with traditional Xinjiang dishes like homemade noodles, freshly butchered lamb and crispy naan. <\/span><\/p>\n

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But the Uighurs who fled China<\/a> to avoid detention described the painful absence of the children they left behind \u2013 who they believe are now in the hands of the very government tearing their families apart. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Some did not want their full names used for fear of retribution against relatives still in Xinjiang.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every morning, <\/span>Meripet<\/span> wakes up to her nightmare: the Chinese government has turned four of her children into orphans, even though she and their father are alive. <\/span><\/p>\n