Uighur activists living abroad fear China’s retaliation

This appeared in The Millennial Source

China’s “re-education camps” in Xinjiang province have sparked criticism from international communities. Experts from the United Nations have estimated that two million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities are held in these camps, with no trial, no release dates, and alleged mistreatments.

In August 2019, the Atlantic reported that Uighurs’ activism abroad were “more numerous, more organized, and more energized than ever before.” Activists shared their stories and their grief on social media, in workshops, and during public meetings in the U.S. and Europe. Despite living abroad, they still report intimidation and threats from China.

Murat Harri Uyghur, a Uighur Finnish activist, was one of the first to demand answers from China. His parents were detained in one of the Xinjiang camps since April 2017. Since then, Uyghur has used social media to campaign for his parents’ release and call for other Uighurs to do the same.

In 2018, he went on a two-week “Freedom Tour,” a series of demonstrations in major European capitals to demand action from China. Finally, he claimed that his parents were released and put under house arrest in December 2018, a few weeks before the Finnish president visited China.