Uyghur : Village secretary, There were 40-50 schools in Suidung, now there are only two

More than five years have passed since the Chinese authorities announced the closure of the camps, or "vocational training schools," but clues and facts are emerging that schools with the same name still exist. Based on a tip from our reporter, it was confirmed that there were 40-50 camps in and around Suidung town in Korgas County, Ili Prefecture, and at least two of them are still being operated. Below you will find the program prepared by our reporter Shohret Hoshur.

By the end of 2018, the Chinese authorities had turned the camps in Uyghur into prisons to escape the pressure of international public opinion. According to this method of protection, Shohret Zakir, the former president of the Uyghur Autonomous Region, announced in a special press conference in Beijing that the "vocational training schools" in the region were closed and the "students" there graduated. A recent advertisement on Tik Tok described the location of a house for sale and mentioned that there was a school near the house: "Here is a house in the garden, next to the oil depot, and there is a school next to it."

Based on this clue, we called a village secretary in the village of Sasifbagh, Suidung. The secretary, who proudly mentioned that he is a senior party member, mentioned that there were 40-50 camps in Suidung, and revealed that at least two of them are still being run. He said that one of the two is located on the Ili-Urumchi road, which is the first entrance to Khorgas Suidoung town, and is called the oil depot by local residents. The camp was one of the first to be discovered by Canadian camp researcher Shawn Zhang via satellite imagery, and the first known to have been established on lead.

Another camp is said to be located in the Nyeavat community of Suedung. It turns out that this community is also close to the second entrance to Suidung along the Ili-Urumchi road, and there are buildings familiar to the local residents such as the Agon Sang around it. The camp was built on the site of a local market.

The secretary also mentions that people from the same community as Kerim Haji are still being "educated" in these two camps.

In our investigations in the beginning and middle of last year, the existence of camps, namely "vocational training schools", were confirmed by local officials in the old market of Korla and the market of Maralbeshi. Uyghur observers in the diaspora suggest that by turning the camps into prisons, China is turning illegal detainees into ostensibly legal detainees, thereby trying to stifle criticism and investigation requests by international agencies, and that, for some unknown convenience, a small number of camps are being kept under their original names.  

Myanmar : AA captures Palatva, which is important for military purposes

On January 14, the Rakhine Army (AA) seized Paletwa, a town bordering Rakhine State and Chin State, from the military council.

The AA has been on the offensive since November 13, 2023 to gain Paletwa Township, which borders the three countries of Myanmar-India-Bangladesh.

Point (377) operation base camp hill of military council army in Palatwa region. No. (19) Khmer (308) Battalion under the Operations Command Headquarters. fire strategy, Myeikwa Army Camp Khan Kha Taung Strategic Base 289th Battalion of Khlara There are military bases in Traun I and Ngo Bu Bay, all of which were captured by the AA.

In 2019, Rakhine Army AA tried to control Palatwa region, but failed. Now, in a round of offensives, the Military Council side had to give up all the camps.

Therefore, AA will be able to block the military routes of the military council coming from Chin State from Paletwa, Paletwa Township Constituency No. (2) NLD Hluttaw Representative Salain Myothit told RFA.

"Mainly, we can see that the road section of Paletwa is under control. The western part of Paletwa. On this side, in Chin State's position, there is no exit for the Military Council troops from any direction. In Chin State, there is a Military Council camp just above the city. There is no reason for the Military Council troops to go to Rakhine State from Chin Mountain."

Captain Zin Yew, who participated in the Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) from the Military Council Army, told RFA that the control of Palewa by the AA would give Chin and Magwe military advantages and would open up more supply channels.

"Because of how important Palatwa is, it's Chintaung. And we can communicate with Magway all at once. Military-wise, the AA has gained a control area. It has a base. If they go down to Rakhine State, they can further control it as far as Kyauktao. And the administration support route used to be that if they (AA) sent military equipment to Palatwa, they could send it through Mizoram state. Now they can transport it through Sagaing and Chin."

He said that by gaining a foothold in the Palatwa region, AA can control Rakhine State up to Kyauktao and exert military pressure up to the Northwestern Military Command.

Palatva is bordered by Bangladesh in the west. It borders with India in the north, and there is also the Kalatan River Comprehensive Development Project, which will be jointly implemented by India and Myanmar.

Therefore, the Indian government will have to discuss the AA, a political activist in Rakhine told RFA.

"When the project is nearing completion and the Rakhine Army has taken control of the important part of the project, there are two options for the Indian government. One is to start the project again when the same political situation is reached. We will stop temporarily for now, do you think about that? Or if we start from now on with ULA/AA, we need to discuss it. Regardless of whether we did not discuss it in the past. Now that the situation has really come to discussion, we will discuss it later. That's it. I think there is a choice."

The Military Council has not released any news about the AA taking control of Paletwa, and RFA contacted U Aung Cho, Chin State Military Council spokesman, by telephone, but there was no response.

"Locals are worried. Because there is still the fear that the military council troops could launch an air attack at any time."

Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) project manager Saline Tere said that since the Palatwa area is also important for the Military Council Army, if airstrikes are carried out to retake this area, civilians may be affected more.

"The local residents are worried about the current situation. Because there is still the concern that the military council troops can launch an air attack at any time. They can't stay calm yet. Mainly, as we know right now, the road communication is blocked by the military council. There may be a shortage of food. Since the war is still going on, there may be a shortage of basic food and consumer goods."

He said that due to the military council cutting off the internal routes of Chin State, the food needs of Palatwa residents will have to be transported through the India-Myanmar border.

As of January 14th, as of January 14th, there have been more than 50,000 people who have fled their homes as a result of the fighting between the two sides in the Palatwa region, according to people providing aid to war-affected refugees.