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Uighurs in China live a dystopian nightmare of constant surveillance and brutal policing. At least one million members of the muslim minority are believed to be held in what the UN describes as a “massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy,” while many Uighur children are taken to state-run orphanages where they’re indoctrinated into Chinese customs.

Their plight has been largely hidden from the world, thanks to China’s aggressive attempts to block their ability to communicate and block journalists from the region. To gain unprecedented access to western Xinjiang, Isobel Yeung and her team posed as tourists. The crew experienced China’s Orwellian surveillance and harassment first-hand, and captured chilling hidden-camera footage of police detaining eight Uighur men in the middle of the night.

By speaking with members of the Uighur community about their experience in these camps, and by conducting an open-source investigation, VICE News uncovered a disturbing truth. As part of China's Xinjiang policy, Uighur children have been separated from their parents and raised in state-sanctioned orphanages, where they are indoctrinated with Chinese Communist Party ideals.