The world has been silent for years. In Northwest China, a small minority group are being put into “re-education camps,” people are forced to have abortions, and are slowly being forced into extinction.
This group of people, commonly referred to as Uighur, are Turkish Muslims. Historically, this region was not referred as part of China but part of central China. This region used to be called East Turkistan until the 19th century when Manchu Empire invaded and claimed this area. Later in history, Chinese nationalists would overthrow the Empire, and East Turkistan fell under the rule of China. Most people would assume that this issue would be a simple, easy decision on how to proceeded with stopping this, that the UN should investigate it do everything in its power to stop it. The UN told China to stop but there was no enforcement of that order.

Why are media outlets staying silent and why is the UN not doing more?
Is history repeating itself?

It is safe to say, money rules the world. Today China controls most of the world’s economy in some way, shape or form . The US owes most of its debt to China, and China is the leading nation in trading (exports and imports). According to The New York Times, the UN isn’t taking action because they are fearful that China will stop trading, and if they do most nations’ economies will collapse. This is the fear that  resides in our nation and, continues to plague other western nations as well.

Lafayette senior Amelia Engstrom shared her thoughts about the Muslim genocide and why she thinks no one is speaking on it. “I have heard about it, but I know very little. I just heard about it talked about but nothing in the news. I know no details,” she said. Americans tend to see the good in our nation because of the stereotype that America has garnered over the years. Most people trust that our media would report it. “You would think this would be something they would cover. I am not sure. Maybe, it is because there are not a lot of facts,” Engstrom further commented about media and its roll in stopping this humans right violation.

America should be doing something. The U.S is looked as a leader due to our strong presence in foreign relations. But, why haven’t we?
“Chinese authorities have rounded up around one million Muslims in the so-called “re-education” camps and have transformed the East Turkestan (Xinjiang province) to an open-air detention center”, according to the United Nations Human Rights Council. These camps sound very similar to the concentration camps during the Holocaust. But why would China target this specific group of Muslims? China claims that these camps are strictly to fight Islamic extremists but there are reasons to believe that what China claims is false. They have been reports about family members disappearing and forced abortions.

 Lafayette senior, Scottie Coleman feels deeply about this issue. “This is just terrible. No one should experience pain and suffering like this and I feel like we have not learned anything from the Holocaust,” she exclaimed.

The UN was created into order to keep suffering like what took place during the Holocaust from ever happening again. Our media is so caught up in issues concerning Kardashians or the latest on Trump they can’t see the horrors happening across the world. Jennifer Damian, a mother of two, spends every morning watching the Today Show. “It mostly broadcast politics like Trump or celebrity news,” she says. America is looked at the superhero of the world not just by foreigners, but by our citizens as well. Americans feel that we should act, but we don’t. “I think if the Today Show knew about this, they would cover it,” Mrs. Damian stated.

The American media is letting this sweep past us and, before we know it Uighurs will suffer. We the people don’t know this is going on and that is a problem. As a nation, we should stand by our values. Uighers deserve the same basic human rights that the UN was laid out.. As a country, and as human beings, we must do the right thing.