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In the summer of 2021, a Uyghur woman named Zeynure was at her home in Istanbul when she answered a long-awaited phone call from her husband. It had been four stressful days since their last communication, when he was getting ready to board a flight to Casablanca. The lack of communication had been difficult.

But the information her husband Idris shared was more devastating. He explained that upon landing in Morocco, he had been arrested and jailed. Authorities informed him he would be deported to China. "Call anyone who can help me," he urged, before the line went dead.

Existence as Uyghurs in Turkey

Zeynure, in her early thirties, and Idris, 37, are part of the Uyghur ethnic group, which constitutes about 50% of the residents in China's north-western Xinjiang region. Over the past decade, more than a million Uyghurs are believed to have been imprisoned in alleged "re-education camps," where they faced abuse for commonplace actions like attending a place of worship or using a headscarf.

The pair had joined many of Uyghurs who fled to Turkey during the 2010s. They believed they would find security in their new home, but soon discovered they were wrong.

"Authorities informed me that the Chinese government threatened to close all its factories in the nation if Morocco freed him," Zeynure said.

After settling in Istanbul, Zeynure worked as an language instructor, while Idris started as a interpreter and designer, helping to publish Uyghur news and publications. They had three children and felt free to practice as Muslims.

But when one of Idris's close friends, who was employed in a library containing Uyghur books, was arrested in the summer of 2021, Idris became fearful. Reports indicated that Beijing was urging Turkey to deport Uyghurs. Idris felt vulnerable due to his prior arrest, which he suspected was linked to his work with activists and supporting Uyghur culture. He decided to escape to Morocco, but Zeynure, whose Chinese passport had lapsed, had to remain with the children until her husband could apply for a travel document for the family.

A Terrible Mistake

Leaving Turkey turned out to be a disastrous decision. At the airport, border control officials took Idris aside for interrogation. "When he was eventually allowed to board the plane, he told me how relieved he was that they had let him go, but it felt like a set-up to me," she said. Her worst fears were confirmed when he was removed from the plane and detained by border officials.

Over the past decade, China has been using the global police agency Interpol to pursue dissidents and had requested for Idris to be added on the agency's most-wanted "red notice list." Zeynure claims Turkish officials allowed him board the flight knowing he would be arrested upon landing in Morocco.

What followed would convince her to do what many Uyghurs dread most: challenge China, despite the consequences.

Parental Pressure

Shortly after learning of her husband's detention, Zeynure received an surprising phone call from her family in Xinjiang. She had been separated from her family since they visited her in Turkey in 2016 and were jailed for several months upon their return to China.

Her parents had a disturbing warning. "They said, 'We know your husband is not with you. Perhaps we can help you,'" Zeynure stated. "I knew there must be some authorities there with them and just pretended like I didn't know anything. But they persisted and told me not to do anything to help my husband. 'Don't do anything except caring for your children,' they told me. 'Avoid saying anything negative about China.'"

But with her husband's safety at stake, the quiet-mannered Zeynure was not going to remain silent. She had been raised witnessing women having their head coverings forcibly removed in public by the authorities and had been resolved to live in a country with religious freedom.

"Prior to my husband was arrested in Morocco, I didn't do anything. I was just caring for my family; I didn't even have social media or Twitter. But I had to do something to save my husband – I had to reveal the reality to the international community. Everyone knows Uyghurs sent to China will be tortured or die. They forced me to raise my voice."

Childhood in Xinjiang

Zeynure has two distinct types of recollections of her early years in Xinjiang. The first was of blissful days spent in the rural areas with her elders, who were agricultural workers. "I used to play with the sheep and chickens. I don't know if I will ever have that kind of chance again. The relatives around the house and farm. It was too beautiful, like a scene from a book."

The second was as a religious minority in Xinjiang, of school holidays interrupted by forced teachings of "political anthems" and being prohibited from going to the mosque or observing Ramadan.

China says it is addressing radicalism through 'managing unauthorized religious activities' and 'vocational education facilities', but other nations, including the US, say its actions amount to genocide. Zeynure says she never felt free to follow her religious beliefs in Xinjiang. "Individuals who went on religious journey to Mecca in Saudi Arabia were detained and sent to jail and told they must have some problem in their brain.

"They aimed for Uyghur people to forget their faith and heritage. They said 'you should trust in us, we gave you employment and this beautiful life here'," says Zeynure.

She eventually decided to depart China after coming back home from university in another part of China to a growing crackdown on beliefs in 2011. It was then that she was connected to Idris by one of her classmates. "She was aware we both had taken the choice to go overseas and told us maybe we could meet and go as a group."

Zeynure says she was immediately reassured by Idris. "I realized he was very truthful and shy, and couldn't tell lies or do anything bad. There were some Uyghur men at university who wanted to marry me, but Idris was different."

Fresh Start in Turkey

Within 60 days they were married and prepared to move for a different existence in Turkey. They knew it was an Islamic country with many believers and Uyghurs already residing there, with a similar tongue and shared background. "It was like Uyghurs' second home," says Zeynure. As a teacher and creative, they could also help the Uyghur population in diaspora. "There are many kids now in China growing up without Uyghur culture or language so we think it's our responsibility to not let it disappear," she says.

But their sense of safety at locating a secure location overseas was short-lived. Beijing has become a prominent force in pursuing critics abroad through the use of electronic surveillance, threats and physical assault. But what Idris was subjected to was a newer tool of repression: using China's growing financial influence to force other nations to yield to its demands, including arresting and extraditing Uyghurs it wants to suppress.

Fighting for Release

After the call from Idris, and learning he had an Interpol red notice against him, Zeynure knew she only had a limited time of chance to try to stop his extradition to China. She right away reached out to as many Uyghur advocacy organizations as she could find advertised online in the EU and the US and pleaded for assistance. She was fearless despite China having already demonstrated a willingness to target the relatives of other individuals.

Zeynure started protesting with her children at the Moroccan embassy in Istanbul, and sharing updates on online platforms. To her amazement, similar protests soon occurred in Morocco calling for Idris's release. Moroccan officials were compelled to put out a announcement saying his deportation was a matter for the courts to decide.

In early August 2021, Interpol cancelled Idris's red notice after being urged to review his case by advocacy organizations. But that did not prevent a Moroccan court later ruling he should still be sent back to China. Zeynure says there was significant political influence from Beijing, which made {little sense|