On October 13, 2022, Peng Lifa (also known as Peng Zaizhou) held his now world-famous protest at Sitong Bridge in Beijing, which ignited the courage of young Chinese activists at home and abroad.
Hundreds of thousands of ethnic minority children have been seized by the Chinese government, detained, and beaten if they speak their native language, according to numerous human rights groups.
These violations of children’s rights will be explored in a symposium entitled “Uyghur Children in China’s Genocide” on Fri., Oct. 27, from 1-5 p.m. in Goldwin Smith Hall, room 76. The symposium will be hybrid; register in advance for the livestream.
As organizer Magnus Fiskesjö explains, the children’s parents and grandparents are Uyghur and Kazakh ethnic minority people who are detained separately, in “re-education” camps, forced labor, or prisons. Their children are put into a children's Gulag of "boarding schools" and "orphanages," currently estimated to hold up to 1 million children. Family separations and boarding schools are soon to expand to all ethnic children, he says.
“By way of brutal punishments and even sibling separation, children are forced to permanently forget their language and culture -- thus, the plan is clearly an intentional component of genocide as per the U.N. Convention -- in ways similar to the horrific 'Indian schools’ of the US and Canada’s past,” said Fiskesjö, associate professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Meanwhile, the rest of society is held in terror; international media is barred, and a campaign to intimidate and silence witnesses around the world, is also ongoing.”
The symposium will explore:
what is happening to children victimized by family separation, who are forcibly cut off from family, siblings, language, and culture
why is the Chinese government doing this
what is the nature of the deep traumas the children endure
how can these wounds be remedied, if the genocide is halted tomorrow
Experts, activists, and witnesses, including Uyghurs, will give presentations on these issues, including the experiences of “Indian schools” in the US and Canada. The panelists include:
Rukiye Turdush, independent scholar from East Turkistan
Zumret Dawut, camp survivor from East Turkistan, with her family
Adrian Zenz, Victims of Communism Museum and Memorial Foundation
Magnus Fiskesjö, associate professor of anthropology (A&S)
Jeffrey Palmer (Kiowa), associate professor of performing and media arts (A&S)
Amy Bombay (Anishinaabe from Rainy River First Nations), Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Canada
The symposium is sponsored by the East Asia Program, part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. Cosponsors include the Reppy Program in Peace and Conflict Studies; Comparative Muslim Societies Program; American Indian and Indigenous Studies (CALS); Institute of Politics and Global Affairs (Brooks School); as well as the Institute for Comparative Modernities; Society for the Humanities; the Departments of Anthropology, Asian Studies, Sociology, and Government; and the Program in Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies, in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Reminder: Uyghur Children in China’s Genocide: A Symposium - Friday, October 27, 2023 at 1:00pm to 5:00pm
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https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/10/panel-explore-reported-rights-violations-uyghur-children
Uyghur Children in China’s Genocide: A Symposium
Friday, October 27, 2023 at 1:00pm to 5:00pm
Goldwin Smith Hall, 76
232 East Ave, Central Campus
Hundreds of thousands of ethnic minority children have been seized by the Chinese government, detained, and beaten if they speak their native language, according to numerous human rights groups.
These violations of children’s rights will be explored in a symposium entitled “Uyghur Children in China’s Genocide” on Fri., Oct. 27, from 1-5 p.m. in Goldwin Smith Hall, room 76. The symposium will be hybrid; register in advance for the livestream.
As organizer Magnus Fiskesjö explains, the children’s parents and grandparents are Uyghur and Kazakh ethnic minority people who are detained separately, in “re-education” camps, forced labor, or prisons. Their children are put into a children's Gulag of "boarding schools" and "orphanages," currently estimated to hold up to 1 million children. Family separations and boarding schools are soon to expand to all ethnic children, he says.
“By way of brutal punishments and even sibling separation, children are forced to permanently forget their language and culture -- thus, the plan is clearly an intentional component of genocide as per the U.N. Convention -- in ways similar to the horrific 'Indian schools’ of the US and Canada’s past,” said Fiskesjö, associate professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Meanwhile, the rest of society is held in terror; international media is barred, and a campaign to intimidate and silence witnesses around the world, is also ongoing.”
The symposium will explore:
what is happening to children victimized by family separation, who are forcibly cut off from family, siblings, language, and culture
why is the Chinese government doing this
what is the nature of the deep traumas the children endure
how can these wounds be remedied, if the genocide is halted tomorrow
Experts, activists, and witnesses, including Uyghurs, will give presentations on these issues, including the experiences of “Indian schools” in the US and Canada. The panelists include:
Rukiye Turdush, independent scholar from East Turkistan
Zumret Dawut, camp survivor from East Turkistan, with her family
Adrian Zenz, Victims of Communism Museum and Memorial Foundation
Magnus Fiskesjö, associate professor of anthropology (A&S)
Jeffrey Palmer (Kiowa), associate professor of performing and media arts (A&S)
Amy Bombay (Anishinaabe from Rainy River First Nations), Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Canada
The symposium is sponsored by the East Asia Program, part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. Cosponsors include the Reppy Program in Peace and Conflict Studies; Comparative Muslim Societies Program; American Indian and Indigenous Studies (CALS); Institute of Politics and Global Affairs (Brooks School); as well as the Institute for Comparative Modernities; Society for the Humanities; the Departments of Anthropology, Asian Studies, Sociology, and Government; and the Program in Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies, in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Dial-In Information
Register in advance for this webinar. https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_L1C0cSWqTS-p0KqMdGXyWA#/registration
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/10/panel-explore-reported-rights-violations-uyghur-children