Public reporting has stated that Chinese government policies have included the arbitrary detention of Uyghurs in state-sponsored internment camps,[12][13] forced labor,[14][15] suppression of Uyghur religious practices,[16] political indoctrination,[17] severe ill-treatment,[18] forced sterilization,[19] forced contraception,[20][21] and forced abortion.[22][23] Chinese government statistics reported that from 2015 to 2018, birth rates in the mostly Uyghur regions of Hotan and Kashgar fell by more than 60%.[19] In the same period, the birth rate of the whole country decreased by 9.69%.[24] Chinese authorities acknowledged that birth rates dropped by almost a third in 2018 in Xinjiang, but denied reports of forced sterilization and genocide.[25] Birth rates in Xinjiang fell a further 24% in 2019, compared to a nationwide decrease of 4.2%.[19]