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

But the update her husband Idris shared was even worse. He explained that upon landing in Morocco, he had been arrested and jailed. Authorities stated he would be extradited to China. "Call everyone who can help me," he urged, before the line went silent.

Life as Ethnic Minority in Turkey

Zeynure, 31 years old, and Idris, 37, are members of the mostly Muslim ethnic group, which constitutes about 50% of the residents in China's western Xinjiang region. Over the last ten years, more than a 1,000,000 Uyghurs are estimated to have been imprisoned in alleged "re-education camps," where they faced mistreatment for ordinary actions like going to a place of worship or using a hijab.

The couple had been among many of Uyghurs who fled to Turkey during the previous decade. They believed they would find security in exile, but quickly discovered they were mistaken.

"Authorities informed me that the Chinese government warned to close all its factories in the nation if Morocco released him," she said.

After moving in Istanbul, Zeynure worked as an English teacher, while Idris began as a translator and artist, helping to publish Uyghur news and publications. They had three children and enjoyed free to practice as Muslims.

But when one of Idris's best friends, who was employed in a library stocking Uyghur books, was detained in the summer of 2021, Idris became fearful. Reports indicated that Beijing was urging Turkey to deport Uyghurs. Idris felt vulnerable due to his previous detention, which he believed was connected to his work with activists and supporting Uyghur culture. He decided to flee to Morocco, but Zeynure, whose Chinese passport had expired, had to remain with the children until her husband could request a travel document for the family.

A Terrible Mistake

Leaving Turkey turned out to be a terrible mistake. At the Istanbul airport, border control officials pulled him aside for questioning. "After he was eventually allowed to get on the plane, he told me how happy he was that they had let him go, but it felt like a set-up to me," she recalled. Her worst fears were realized when he was taken off the plane and detained by Moroccan authorities.

Over the past decade, China has been utilizing the international police agency Interpol to target dissidents and had asked for Idris to be placed on the agency's most-wanted "red notice list." Zeynure says Turkish officials allowed him board the flight knowing he would be arrested upon arrival in Morocco.

What happened next would lead her to do what many Uyghurs fear most: challenge China, despite the consequences.

Parental Interference

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

Her parents had a disturbing message. "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 acted 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 stay quiet. She had grown up witnessing women having their hijabs forcibly removed in public by the police 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 Facebook or these platforms. But I had to do something to rescue my husband – I had to reveal the truth to the world. Everyone knows Uyghurs deported to China will be abused or killed. They pushed me to speak out."

Childhood in Xinjiang

Zeynure has two distinct types of recollections of her childhood in Xinjiang. The first was of blissful days spent in the countryside with her grandparents, who were agricultural workers. "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 beautiful, like a scene from a story."

The second was as a Muslim Uyghur in Xinjiang, of school holidays cut short by mandatory teachings of "communist songs" and being banned from going to the mosque or practicing Ramadan.

China says it is tackling radicalism through 'managing unauthorized religious activities' and 'training facilities', but other countries, including the US, say its actions amount to genocide. Zeynure says she never felt free to practice her faith in Xinjiang. "Individuals who went on pilgrimage to Mecca abroad were arrested and sent to prison and told they must have some problem in their mind.

"They wanted Uyghur people to abandon their faith and culture. They said 'you should believe in us, we provided you employment and this good living here'," says Zeynure.

She eventually decided to leave China after coming back home from university in Eastern China to a growing crackdown on beliefs in 2011. It was then that she was introduced to Idris by one of her classmates. "She knew we both had taken the decision to go abroad and told us perhaps we could get together and go together."

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

A New Life in Turkey

Within 60 days they were wed and ready to leave for a new life in Turkey. They knew it was an Muslim-majority country with many believers and Uyghurs already living there, with a comparable tongue and shared background. "It felt like Uyghurs' second home," says Zeynure. As a teacher and designer, they could also help the community in diaspora. "We have many children now in China being raised without Uyghur culture or language so we think it's our responsibility to not let it die out," she says.

But their relief at locating a secure location abroad was temporary. Beijing has become a prominent force in pursuing dissidents abroad through the use of monitoring, intimidation and physical assault. But what Idris was faced was a newer method of control: using China's growing economic leverage to pressure other countries to bend to its demands, including detaining and deporting Uyghurs it wants to suppress.

Campaigning for Release

After the call from Idris, and discovering he had an Interpol red notice against him, Zeynure knew she only had a short window of opportunity to try to prevent his deportation to China. She right away reached out to as many Uyghur support groups as she could find listed online in the EU and the US and begged for help. She was fearless despite China having already demonstrated a willingness to go after the family members of other individuals.

Zeynure started demonstrating with her children at the Moroccan embassy in Istanbul, and sharing updates on online platforms. To her surprise, similar protests soon followed in Morocco demanding Idris's freedom. Moroccan officials were compelled to put out a announcement saying his deportation was a matter for the judicial system to determine.

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