He returned from the camps to find his family gone. Now, his story demands justice.
On September 15, 2025, a video circulated on Facebook and X recounting the heartbreaking story of an Uyghur man who spent five years in a Chinese government concentration camp in East Turkistan (Ch. Xinjiang). Upon his release, he returned to find his family shattered. The video deeply moved me—it crushed my heart. I briefly shared its content on my social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter, to raise awareness. This Uyghur’s story vividly reflects the suffering endured by millions of Uyghurs who survived the camps.
In the video, the anguished man addresses the Chinese government:
“Hey, what kind of government are you? When you imprison a man, your cadres prey on his wife and children. Is this acceptable? If the government claims it has no role in this, then what kind of government are you? What kind of Party are you?
If you were truly just, why would I turn to alcohol? Why would I abandon my family, my life, my parents? I am a human being too! I have a heart. I know how to care for my parents, my wife, and my children. But this Party government has forced me to abandon my family, my humanity.
Those who destroyed my family, who violated my wife and children, are the people you—the Party government—have trained. When I file complaints, what do you say? You tell me, ‘Nothing will happen, these days will pass.’ What have you resolved? What will pass?
The only way this ends is if you kill Uyghurs like me who’ve been through your prisons. Otherwise, it will never end. We trusted you, the government! You imprisoned us, allowed our wives and children to be violated, and destroyed our families.
Your people—your police, your workers in every sector—they are the ones who ruined our families, who preyed on our loved ones. Will they face no consequences? Is there no justice?
Even if you lock me up for life or eliminate me, it’s fine. But if the Party government claims to be just, shouldn’t you investigate this? There may be countless others like me, unable to speak out, their pain trapped in their hearts. If they speak, they suffer more; if they don’t, they suffer still.
Here I am, speaking out. Tell me! Can you silence the pain in people’s hearts? No, you can’t. You think imprisoning us is enough? You don’t care about the suffering that follows.
What happens to a man after he leaves your prison? He has one, two, three, or four children. When your government officials prey on them and produce children, what will you do? You think locking us up solves everything? Is there no law for this?
Hey, government! What are you doing? What do you have to say? You think locking us up for life will end it? We’ve given up on life. Even if we try to seek justice, there’s always another law in the way.
This ordeal began when I was released after five years in prison. The horrors I witnessed and learned about there shattered my faith in life. While I was imprisoned, your cadres violated my wife and children, destroyed my family, separated me from my loved ones, and left me in ruins. No one has answered for this.
Despite my repeated complaints, I was dismissed. They said, ‘Are you even a man? Why are you complaining? What’s the point?’ But I believe every person has a right to freedom, to live freely. No one should interfere with that, right? Yet you stripped me of my freedom, threw me in prison, violated my family, destroyed my life, and even forced me to abandon my parents.
Can I forgive those who did this to me? I want to cry, but I won’t. What kind of man have I become? I ask each of you: I went to prison, and I came out. But what happened after I was released? The mother of my three children became someone else’s slave, someone else’s wife. Where are my children? Sent to orphanages.
I repeatedly filed complaints with this government, but who listened? No one. For two years, I kept pleading, and no one cared. While I was in prison, your cadres swooped in, asking my family if they needed help—only to take my wife and children from me, destroy my family, and leave me with nothing.
I sought justice, but no government answered my call. After leaving prison, I realized your cadres had ruined my family while I was gone, and there was no one to hold accountable. In such despair, in such a wretched state, how are we supposed to live? Think about it! We’re barely holding ourselves together. The day we can’t anymore, we’ll vanish from this life.
Is there no government to protect a man’s family and children while he’s imprisoned? When your cadres prey on his wife and children, is that acceptable? Does the government not protect them?”
This is the true story of one man who survived the concentration camps.
Reading this, you can feel the raw pain of an Uyghur living under Chinese occupation in East Turkistan. This is not just one man’s suffering—it is a snapshot of the lives of millions of Uyghurs enduring unimaginable horrors. The Chinese government’s genocide against the Uyghurs is not a lie or a Western fabrication—it is the lived reality of a people facing ethnic extermination in the 21st century.
The Chinese government masks its genocide in East Turkistan as a fabrication or a political game concocted by the West. For years, it has manipulated journalists, retired state officials, party members, and influential figures in countries under its sway. It invites them to East Turkistan, stages fake displays, wines and dines them for days, sends them off with gifts, and uses their influence to spread propaganda.
But this Uyghur’s testimony, shared after five years in a concentration camp, is a powerful voice against China’s efforts to hide its 21st-century genocide of the Uyghur people. Let us listen to this voice. Let it expose the Chinese government’s lies to the world. Let us take real steps to stop this genocide. May our voices against this oppression never falter.
Source: Bitter Winter
