The Woman Who Stood Up to China and Won Her Spouse's Liberty

In the summer of 2021, Zeynure Hasan was at her residence in Turkey's largest city when she received a long-awaited phone call from her husband. There had been four painful days since their last communication, when he was getting ready to take a flight to Casablanca. The lack of communication had been difficult.

But the information her husband Idris delivered was more alarming. He informed her that upon arrival in Morocco, he had been arrested and imprisoned. Authorities told him he would be sent back to China. "Contact anyone who can assist me," he pleaded, before the line went silent.

Existence as Ethnic Minority in Exile

Zeynure, 31 years old, and Idris, in his late thirties, are members of the mostly Muslim ethnic group, which constitutes about half of the population in China's north-western Xinjiang province. Over the past decade, more than a million Uyghurs are estimated to have been detained in so-called "vocational training camps," where they faced mistreatment for commonplace acts like going to a place of worship or wearing a hijab.

The pair had joined thousands of Uyghurs who escaped to Turkey during the previous decade. They hoped they would find refuge in their new home, but quickly found they were mistaken.

"Authorities informed me that the Beijing officials threatened to close all its industrial plants in the country if Morocco released him," she said.

After settling in Istanbul, Zeynure became an English teacher, while Idris started as a interpreter and designer, helping to publish Uyghur media and publications. They had a family of three kids and enjoyed free to live as followers of Islam.

But when one of Idris's best friends, who was employed in a book repository containing Uyghur books, was arrested in the mid-year of 2021, Idris became fearful. Reports indicated that Beijing was pressuring Turkey to deport Uyghurs. Idris felt at risk due to his previous detention, which he suspected was connected to his work with advocates and supporting Uyghur culture. He decided to flee to Morocco, but Zeynure, whose Chinese passport had lapsed, had to remain with the children until her husband could apply for a visa for the whole family.

A Terrible Error

Departing Turkey turned out to be a terrible mistake. At the Istanbul airport, immigration officials took Idris aside for interrogation. "After he was eventually permitted to board the plane, he told me how relieved he was that they had released him, but it felt like a set-up to me," Zeynure said. Her deepest concerns were confirmed when he was taken off the plane and detained by Moroccan authorities.

Over the last ten years, China has been using the global police agency Interpol to pursue political refugees and had requested for Idris to be added on the agency's high-priority "red notice list." Zeynure claims Turkish officials allowed him take the flight knowing he would be arrested upon arrival in Morocco.

What followed would lead her to do what many Uyghurs dread most: defy China, despite the risks.

Family Pressure

Soon after hearing of her husband's detention, Zeynure received an surprising phone call from her family in Xinjiang. She had been cut off from her family since they came to see her in Turkey in 2016 and were imprisoned for several months upon their return to China.

Her parents had a chilling 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 insisted 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 risk, the quiet-mannered Zeynure was not going to remain silent. She had been raised seeing women having their head coverings ripped off in public by the police and had been determined to live in a country with religious freedom.

"Prior to my husband was arrested in Morocco, I didn't do anything. I was just looking after my family; I didn't even have social media or these platforms. But I had to do something to save my husband – I had to reveal the truth to the world. Everyone knows Uyghurs sent to China will be tortured or killed. They forced me to speak out."

Growing Up in Xinjiang

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

The second was as a religious minority in Xinjiang, of vacations cut short by mandatory teachings of "communist songs" and being banned from going to the religious site or observing Ramadan.

China claims it is tackling extremism through 'managing unauthorized religious activities' and 'vocational education facilities', but other countries, including the US, say its actions amount to genocide. Zeynure says she never felt free to follow her faith in Xinjiang. "People who went on religious journey to Mecca abroad were detained and sent to jail and told they must have some problem in their mind.

"They wanted Uyghur people to forget their religion and heritage. They said 'you should trust in us, we provided you jobs and this beautiful living here'," says Zeynure.

She finally decided to depart China after coming back home from university in another part of China to a increasing repression on beliefs in 2011. It was then that she was connected to Idris by one of her school friends. "She was aware we both had taken the decision to go overseas and told us perhaps we could meet and go as a group."

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 different."

Fresh Start in Turkey

Within 60 days they were wed and ready to leave for a new life in Turkey. They knew it was an Islamic country with many believers and Uyghurs already residing there, with a similar tongue and common ethnicity. "It felt like Uyghurs' second home," says Zeynure. As a educator and designer, they could also help the Uyghur population in exile. "We have many children now in China growing up without Uyghur culture or dialect so we think it's our duty to not let it die out," she says.

But their relief at finding a place of safety overseas was short-lived. Beijing has become a prominent force in pursuing dissidents living in exile through the use of electronic surveillance, intimidation and violence. But what Idris was faced was a more recent tool of control: using China's increasing economic leverage to force other countries to bend to its will, including detaining and extraditing Uyghurs it wants to silence.

Campaigning for Freedom

After the call from Idris, and learning he had an Interpol red notice hanging over him, Zeynure knew she only had a short window of opportunity to try to prevent his extradition to China. She right away contacted as many Uyghur advocacy organizations as she could find advertised online in the EU and the US and begged for assistance. She was fearless despite China having already demonstrated a readiness to go after the relatives of other individuals.

Zeynure started protesting with her children at the diplomatic mission in Istanbul, and sharing information on social media. To her amazement, copycat protests soon occurred in Morocco demanding Idris's freedom. Moroccan officials were compelled to put out a statement saying his deportation was a issue for the courts to decide.

In early August 2021, Interpol withdrew Idris's red notice after being urged to reexamine his case by human rights groups. But that did not prevent a Moroccan court later ruling he should still be extradited to China. Zeynure says there was huge political influence from Beijing, which made {little sense|