BEIJING — Heavily guarded internment camps for Muslims which China calls vocational training centres will gradually disappear if there comes a time that “society does not need” them, regional authorities said Tuesday. The camps in the far-west Xinjiang region have elicited an international outcry, with former inmates describing harsh conditions in which Muslim minorities are subject to political indoctrination and psychological torture. Human rights groups, researchers and the U.S. government estimate around 1 million people from the predominantly Muslim Uighur and Kazakh ethnic groups are held in a network of compounds spread throughout the vast region. Zakir said the camps do not target any particular faith, though religious activities are banned in the camps. Ex-detainees say the overwhelming majority of those in the camps are Muslim.

Source: National Post March 12, 2019 10:15 UTC