Consider This from NPR Two Uyghur Children Describe What Life Was Like In A Chinese Boarding School
Feb 3, 2022
Emily Feng, NPR's Beijing correspondent, shares heartbreaking stories from two Uyghur children who escaped a Chinese boarding school where they endured harsh punishments and cultural indoctrination. The young voices reveal the emotional scars of forced family separation and the loss of their language and identity. Feng also narrates the father's courageous attempt to rescue his children amidst suppression, highlighting the ongoing struggles of their reunited family as they seek healing and navigate their painful past.
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Uyghur Children's Boarding School Experience
- Eight-year-old Latfula and his 10-year-old sister, Aisu, recounted 19 months in a Chinese state boarding school.
- Separated from their parents at four and six, they faced daily political indoctrination, beatings for speaking Uyghur, and stress positions.
Boarding Schools and Cultural Genocide
- Latfula and Aisu's school, part of a growing network in Xinjiang, aims to improve educational access.
- However, it also serves as a place for Uyghur children whose parents are detained, furthering Chinese indoctrination and cultural erasure.
Kuchar Family Separation
- Abdul Latif Kuchar, a Uyghur who fled to Turkey, returned to Xinjiang and started a family.
- In 2017, China canceled his visa, deported him, and later detained his wife and children.