These Uygurs fled to Australia to escape persecution but China’s crackdown followed them
- Beijing has conducted a sweeping campaign to suppress Uygur identity and restrict the practice of Islam
- As many as 1 million Uygurs and members of other minority groups are being held without charges in brutal internment camps
Alfiraa Dilshat and Rashida Abdughufur were picnicking in the small seaside town of Victor Harbor in late December when Abdughufur got a video call from her mother.
With Abdughufur living in Adelaide, a city in southern Australia, and her mother in the Xinjiang region in China, it was a rare chance for the two to connect. At first, Abdughufur said, she was excited because she hadn’t talked to her mother in a long time. Then came “disaster”. Abdughufur’s mother appeared on the screen in handcuffs, sitting next to a police officer.
“They started interrogating me,” Abdughufur said.
Fearing for her safety, she complied, sharing sensitive details and documents the police demanded from her, including her Australian driving licence.
When Abdughufur finished the call, “her face was pale”, her friend Dilshat remembered. Shortly thereafter, an audio message from Abdughufur’s mother arrived.
“These people will look for you,” it said.
The WeChat account used to contact Abdughufur was disconnected soon after. Abdughufur hasn’t heard from her mother since.