British Jews ‘will not turn a blind eye’ to plight of Muslim Uighurs in China

The Board of Deputies has said British Jews “will not turn a blind eye” to the mass detention of Muslim Uighurs in China after a massive trove of classified government documents showed up to a million people incarcerated.

The documents, leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, revealed what the Chinese government’s mandatory “vocational training” for an entire population actually entails.

Huge schools, which have the notional goal of combating terrorism, are in fact the centre of a vast and Orwellian surveillance network which includes pervasive CCTV with “no blind spots” and something called “predictive policing”.

Among the more alarming findings from the China Cables is the revelation that Chinese embassies worldwide help facilitate the mass detention, as well as the Chinese government explicitly targeting foreign nationals to send to the camps.

Board senior vice-president Sheila Gewolb said: “These reports of psychological torture and brainwashing are just the latest in a series of disturbing and sinister revelations about the treatment of Uighur Muslims by the government of China.

“Because of our history, British Jews will refuse to turn a blind eye to the persecution of an entire community, anywhere. We will be working with partners in the British Muslim community to continue raising awareness of this grave issue.”

Read more:

• Orthodox man protests against plight of Uyghurs: ‘The world did nothing for us’  
• Jewish dad reunites with Muslim woman who confronted his children’s abuser