As Beijing Olympics begin, exiled Uyghurs fight for families oppressed in China
February 02, 2022Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, all countries in which China has invested heavily and that have signed letters supporting the government’s Xinjiang policy, have also deported Uyghurs at Beijing’s request. Many Uyghurs fled those countries for Turkey, where an estimated 50,000 Uyghurs — the largest concentration of the Uyghur diaspora — live, in part because of shared cultural roots.
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In 2020, a Uyghur man named Yusufjan Ahmet was shot on the streets near here after reportedly refusing to keep spying on fellow Uyghurs for China’s security services. He was preparing to give an interview to foreign media when he was attacked. He spent months in a hospital.
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Tohti has grown accustomed to harassment. One day in 2020, he received a call from a number he didn’t recognize. A Chinese man threatened him in Uyghur: “You could die in a car accident. You could disappear from your home. Be careful,” Tohti recalled.