After Gulnar Omirzakh had her third child, the authorities knocked on the door and told her that she had to pay a fine of about SEK 30,000. Otherwise, she would end up in a prison-like camp. Her husband was already in one of the major detention camps in Xinjiang, and she could not afford to pay. 

- I didn't have a fine. So I was preparing to be picked up. Our home was rented, and my husband was already in a camp. So when my daughters heard it they cried and asked where they would go if I was picked up, who should take care of us?

Vulnerable minority

Gulnar Omirzakh, who belongs to the Muslim minority Kazakhs in Xinjiang, lives today with his family in Kazakhstan, where they managed to escape. 

There is evidence from the camps that women are forcibly sterilized, and forced into abortion.

SVT News has previously taken note of documents showing that Chinese authorities are suspicious of Muslim women who give birth to many children.

Special directives on Muslims

Chinese authorities have special records of Muslims in Xinjiang, such as how many children a person has, if a person wears a veil, if her husband has a beard or if they have a Koran at home. Anyone who appears to be a suspect may be forced into one of the major detention camps the central government has built in Xinjiang. They have been described as camps where mainly Muslim minority groups are forced to learn loyalty to the central government in Beijing.

The Muslim minorities in Xinjiang have previously been allowed to give birth to more children than the majority population of Han Chinese. For Han Chinese, China's strict one-child policy applied. Today, Xinjiang instead has among the lowest birth rates in China, according to the AP.