The Woman Who Challenged Chinese Authorities and Secured Her Husband's Liberty

In July 2021, a Uyghur woman named Zeynure was at her home in Turkey's largest city when she answered a long-awaited phone call from her husband. There had been four agonizing days since their last communication, when he was preparing to board a flight to Morocco. The lack of communication had been difficult.

But the information her husband Idris delivered was even worse. He told her that upon landing in Morocco, he had been detained and imprisoned. Authorities informed him he would be extradited to China. "Call anyone who can assist me," he pleaded, before the line went silent.

Life as Uyghurs in Exile

The wife, in her early thirties, and Idris, 37, are members of the mostly Muslim ethnic group, which makes up about 50% of the residents in China's western Xinjiang region. Over the past decade, more than a 1,000,000 Uyghurs are believed to have been imprisoned in so-called "re-education camps," where they faced mistreatment for ordinary actions like going to a mosque or wearing a headscarf.

The pair had been among many of Uyghurs who fled to Turkey during the 2010s. They thought they would find safety in their new home, but soon realized they were wrong.

"I was told that the Beijing officials threatened to shut down all its factories in the nation if Morocco released him," Zeynure stated.

After moving in Istanbul, Zeynure worked as an language instructor, while Idris started as a interpreter and designer, assisting to produce Uyghur media and printed works. They had a family of three kids and felt free to practice as Muslims.

But when one of Idris's close friends, who was employed in a library containing Uyghur books, was detained in the mid-year of 2021, Idris became fearful. News indicated that Beijing was pressuring Turkey to extradite Uyghurs. Idris felt vulnerable due to his previous detention, which he suspected was linked to his work with advocates and supporting Uyghur culture. He chose to escape to Morocco, but Zeynure, whose Chinese passport had lapsed, had to remain with the children until her husband could request a travel document for the whole family.

A Terrible Mistake

Leaving Turkey proved to be a terrible decision. At the airport, immigration officials pulled him aside for questioning. "After he was finally allowed to get on the plane, he told me how happy he was that they had released him, but it felt like a set-up to me," Zeynure said. Her worst fears were realized when he was taken off the plane and detained by Moroccan authorities.

Over the past decade, China has been using the international police agency Interpol to pursue dissidents and had requested for Idris to be added on the agency's high-priority "alert list." Zeynure claims Turkish officials let him take the flight knowing he would be arrested upon landing in Morocco.

What happened next would convince her to do what many Uyghurs dread most: defy China, despite the consequences.

Family Pressure

Soon after hearing of her husband's arrest, Zeynure got an surprising phone call from her parents in Xinjiang. She had been separated from her relatives since they came to see her in Turkey in 2016 and were jailed for several months upon their return to China.

Her parents had a disturbing message. "They said, 'We know your husband is not with you. Maybe we can assist you,'" she stated. "I realized there must be some police there with them and just pretended like I didn't know anything. But they persisted and told me not to do anything to help my husband. 'Avoid doing anything except feeding your children,' they told me. 'Don't say anything bad about China.'"

But with her husband's safety at stake, the quiet-mannered Zeynure was not going to stay quiet. She had grown up seeing women having their head coverings ripped off in open by the police and had been determined to live in a country with freedom of belief.

"Before my husband was arrested in Morocco, I didn't do anything. I was just looking after my family; I didn't even have Facebook or Twitter. But I had to do something to save my husband – I had to tell the truth to the international community. Everyone knows Uyghurs sent to China will be abused or killed. They pushed me to raise my voice."

Childhood in Xinjiang

Zeynure has different types of recollections of her childhood in Xinjiang. The first was of blissful days spent in the rural areas with her elders, who were farmers. "I'd play with the animals and poultry. I don't know if I will ever have that kind of chance again. The relatives around the house and land. It was too wonderful, like a picture from a story."

The second was as a Muslim Uyghur in Xinjiang, of school holidays interrupted by mandatory teachings of "communist songs" and being banned from attending the religious site or observing Ramadan.

China says it is addressing extremism through 'controlling unauthorized religious activities' and 'training centers', but other countries, including the US, say its actions constitute genocide. Zeynure says she never felt free to practice her faith in Xinjiang. "People who went on pilgrimage to Mecca abroad were detained and sent to prison and told they must have some issue in their mind.

"They aimed for Uyghur people to abandon their faith and heritage. They said 'you should trust in us, we gave you employment and this good life here'," says Zeynure.

She eventually decided to depart China after returning home from college in another part of China to a growing crackdown on beliefs in 2011. It was then that she was connected to Idris by one of her classmates. "She was aware we both had taken the decision to go overseas and told us maybe we could get together and go together."

Zeynure says she was right away comforted by Idris. "I realized he was very honest and reserved, and couldn't tell lies or do anything wrong. There were some Uyghur boys at university who wanted to wed me, but Idris was unique."

Fresh Start in Turkey

Within two months they were wed and prepared to move for a new life in Turkey. They knew it was an Islamic country with many believers and Uyghurs already living there, with a similar tongue and shared ethnicity. "It felt like Uyghurs' alternative homeland," says Zeynure. As a teacher and creative, they could also support the Uyghur population in diaspora. "We have many children now in China growing up without Uyghur traditions or language so we think it's our duty to not let it disappear," she says.

But their relief at locating a secure location abroad was short-lived. Beijing has become a prominent force in pursuing critics abroad through the use of monitoring, intimidation and violence. But what Idris was faced was a newer tool of control: using China's increasing economic leverage to pressure other nations to bend to its will, including arresting and extraditing Uyghurs it wants to suppress.

Campaigning for Freedom

After the phone call from Idris, and discovering he had an Interpol red notice against him, Zeynure knew she only had a limited time of chance to try to stop his deportation to China. She right away reached out to as many Uyghur advocacy organizations as she could find listed on the internet in the EU and the US and begged for assistance. She was brave despite China having already demonstrated a readiness to target the relatives of other targets.

Zeynure started demonstrating with her children at the Moroccan embassy in Istanbul, and posting updates on online platforms. To her surprise, copycat protests soon followed in Morocco demanding Idris's release. Moroccan officials were forced to put out a statement saying his deportation was a matter for the courts to determine.

In the start of August 2021, Interpol cancelled Idris's red notice after being urged to review his case by advocacy organizations. But that did not prevent a Moroccan court later deciding he should still be sent back to China. Zeynure says there was huge political influence from Beijing, which made {little sense|