Uyghurs are hounded as they flee their homeland while nation states and international bodies look on.
by Ruth Ingram
“A cloud hangs over my life; whatever I do I cannot shake it off. Wherever I go, whatever I do, whoever I see, I know that at every turn the Chinese government is watching me.”
A Uyghur exile in London speaking to Bitter Winter, tells of an existence where “freedom” is a concept he has yet to enjoy despite arriving in the so-called “free” world, and where at any moment, because of him, his relatives could be rounded up, beaten, or forced to denounce him to save their own skins.
Thousands live like Abliz outside their native country, scattered among the diaspora in countries more, or less friendly towards China where a word out of place, a photo with the “wrong” people, a celebration with other exiles might herald the arrest of a loved one at home, or psychological pressure to return.
New research uncovering the extent of Beijing’s transnational repression (TNR) of the Uyghur diaspora has unearthed more stories such as Abliz’s across three countries and highlighted the universal oppression faced by exiles wherever they land. Worryingly, authors also discovered a network of informants sent in by Beijing to assist this process
The report, “We know you better than you know yourself: China’s transnational repression of the Uyghur diaspora,” by Sheffield academic David Tobin and Uyghur researcher Nyrola Elimä, describes how Beijing’s resolve to rein in the Uyghur diaspora has expanded since President Xi Jinping’s “New Era” policies took off after 2017, and efforts were ramped up to harass and pursue those who fled.
Despite in theory operating a “live and let live” approach to international relations, authors of the report have exposed the PRC’s hands-on oppression towards all who dare to leave and speak out.
The chilling injunction given to Aynür, a Turkey-based Uyghur that “China is getting stronger,” and “we know you better than you know yourself,” came with an order from a Chinese police officer to take photographs and collect information on her Uyghur friends in Turkey. She refused but the demands were a reminder that China was watching her.
Trying to build a new life outside Xinjiang under the pressure of surveillance and navigating relationships where anyone could be a spy, is crippling exiles, found the report, which has come on the heels of a sixth publication by the Uyghur Human Rights Project, UHRP, on Beijing’s transnational repression focusing on the humanitarian needs of thousands of Uyghurs scattered around the world, their lives in tatters.
“We know you better than you know yourselves” spotlights conditions for Uyghurs in the U.K., Turkey, and Thailand where individuals report not only threats of violence, deportation and harm to their families, but also cash sweeteners and offers of contact with family in return for tidbits of information and intel on their community. Beijing rather than attempting simply to influence the diaspora, is trying to interfere with their lives, says the report.
This accords with Abliz’s experience told to Bitter Winter that despite never having been contacted directly by the CCP, he takes no chances and steers away from involvement with the U.K. community. He is terrified of joining their WhatsApp groups, or community celebrations, and even wary of joining wider Central Asian diaspora festivities in case he is captured on social media and thereby stirs up trouble for his family at home.
Authors found that the impact of TNR was intensifying through increased human surveillance and as the years go by, the trauma of family separation. “The party-state’s TNR tactics are evolving to avoid international attention by focussing in on isolated individuals, quietly intimidating Uyghurs from speaking publicly, and even enlisting them in creating positive images of China for global audiences,” the report said.
Linked with Beijing’s concern that Xinjiang should not become a pivot with which to “control” China globally, TNR has been incorporated into official PRC policy, “specifically, to prevent Uyghur connections with democratic and Islamic societies, and to restrict academic research on these subjects.” The Ili (a prefecture on the border of Kazakhstan) public security handbook for example gives detailed instructions on how to monitor all Uyghurs who travel abroad and their family members as potential threats to national security.
All Uyghurs leaving China are interviewed and made to sign a “reminder list,” to obey Chinese law and not to take part in organisations of any kind. Any family members who remain behind act as hostages to the party-state. Those who travel abroad, particularly to any of the 26 “dangerous countries” that include Thailand and Turkey, are documented and assessed on their return. “Speech, behavior and activities” are monitored for “abnormalities” to be reported, followed up and “inspected.” Regular “risk assessments” are then carried out weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually, focussing on their “performance, activity direction and travel intentions.”
The message is clear. China’s long arm will catch up with you and your loved ones wherever you are.
Fifty thousand pages of Urumqi Police Notes scoured by the authors prove the extent of what foremost scholar Adrian Zenz has described as an all pervasive “political paranoia” concerning the behavior of ordinary citizens in the Xinjiang region.
Online images are combed by the PRC for incriminating evidence, whether it be from demonstrations, meals in cafes, or weddings. Gulbahar Haitiwaji’s harrowing account of detention survival describes the day under interrogation when she was presented with a photograph of her daughter at a rally in Paris and her family was accused of running a terrorist cell in France.
The hounding of exiles seems to be driven by the need to avoid negative international perceptions of China, say the authors. PRC tactics are to “monitor the everyday thought, activities, and associations of Uyghurs and families, and to threaten them if they pursue media or advocacy activities that would influence global opinion on China,” they conclude.
Interviews with Uyghurs in the U.K. revealed feelings of loneliness, disconnection from community life and the constant pressure of police calls, threats against their families at home, and PRC attempts to co-opt members to spy on each other. Despite relief at being in a democratic country, they were still not aware of their rights and they felt politicians and officials were not doing enough to flag up their cause.
Speaking of the PRC harassment, one anonymous interviewee spoke bitterly. “If they can reach out and threaten me, they can do it to others. It won’t take long for them to find out that I hate the people who sent me to hell.”
The situation for Uyghurs in Turkey is more precarious. Many exiles speak of their uncertainty and fear of being repatriated to certain imprisonment in China. Many haphazardly arriving overland through South East Asia without documentation have caused a headache for Turkish officials who on one hand welcome their “Turkic brethren” but on the other hand are wary of losing China’s economic benefits.
China’s CGTN news service carried a report in 2017 quoting Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu who said that Turkey would regard “China’s security as its own security, and crack down on all domestic activities that threatened China;” comments that unsettled the 50,000-strong Uyghur diaspora seeking refuge on its shores.
Widespread reports of Chinese police intimidation, being followed, and their communities being infiltrated by Uyghur spies do nothing to reassure the exiles that they are in safe hands. They constantly worry about being returned to Xinjiang, and harassment of their relatives back home if they step out of line. “We just want to make sure you are in the right road,” is a common exhortation through unknown numbered calls; and many who refuse to cooperate have been threatened with messages such as “you’ll never see your family,” or “you are risking being a traitor.”
“Disappeared children,” sick or elderly relatives are common hostage bait to secure agreement to “behave.” Some are repeatedly detained in Turkish prisons for short periods at the behest of China, to keep up the pressure to inform or keep quiet. “The high period of mass detention in Xinjiang is now giving way to more complex and insidious tactics to monitor and punish those who have escaped or refuse to bow to political pressure,” say the authors. So-called “proof of life” videos are often used to persuade escapees to return to the fold.
One Uyghur man was discovered to have been paid 500 Turkish lira for each diaspora photo he sent to Chinese police, but after discovery, his confession was posted on social media, and he vowed to stop.
Relatively small amounts of money offered to potential spies is enough to obviate the need for overt surveillance, and keeps the PRC abreast of community activities without attracting too much attention.
Many Uyghurs feel that unspoken Chinese government pressure on Turkish authorities has resulted in inconsistency over their Turkish passport applications and their treatment by the Turkish police from time to time. Inexplicably a prominent Uyghur bookstore selling books banned in China but not contravening Turkish law, was raided by Turkish police and books confiscated in March 2023. Turkish lawyers tell those subject to random arrests that the actions have been “led by China” and there is no chance of compensation. Appeals to the UNHCR regarding urgent cases where residence has been declined, have gone unanswered, listed as “blocked” for no reason.
Despite more Uyghurs recently being given Turkish passports, interviewees still expressed views that Turkish citizenship was “widely seen as an imperfect form of protection from transnational repression.”
The situation for Uyghurs in Thailand is dire. Forty-nine victims of traffickers have been held in squalid Immigration Detention Centres, IDC’s, for years with no efforts made by the UNHCR to help them move on despite the deaths in custody of four men. One hundred and nine who made their escape through South East Asia in 2015 were immediately repatriated to China on their arrival.
No decision has been made as to the eventual fate of the 49, and authors of the report, wary of endangering them focused on reports from Uyghurs who had transited Thailand and the IDC’s during their escape from China. During their detention they had been given no permission to register with the UNHCR, food was meagre, and aid and supplies from international organisations were channelled first to other nationalities. Telephone calls and family visits were also denied them; the only visits allowed were from the Chinese consulate who taunted them with questions about missing their families and parents suffering because of them.
The cumulative effects of intensifying TNR according to the authors of the report was growing fear, paranoia and self isolation in the communities around the world. Beijing’s party-state’s model of TNR is a clear breach of international law and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, CERD, has expressed “alarm” over the way Uyghurs are treated and in November 2022, called on the PRC to “cease all intimidation and reprisals against Uyghur and other ethnic Muslim, communities, the diaspora and those who speak out in their defense, both domestically and abroad.”
China’s TNR not only targets Uyghurs as they flee, but also undermines the national security in the states that welcome them. This is a rallying cry to nations to not only defend fleeing Uyghurs but to preserve sovereignty and their commitment to civil rights in their own territories.
The report’s authors urge the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and the OHCHR (Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights) to step up and fulfill their obligations to ensure safety and refuge for Uyghur refugees. They also recommend the appointment of a special rapporteur for transnational repression who will take up the cause of the vulnerable most in need of a safe haven as they flee for their lives.
