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In July 2021, a Uyghur woman named Zeynure was at her home in Turkey's largest city when she got a desperately anticipated phone call from her husband. It had been four agonizing 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 news her husband Idris delivered was more devastating. He told her that upon arrival in Morocco, he had been taken into custody and imprisoned. Authorities told him he would be sent back to China. "Reach out to anyone who can help me," he said, before the line went dead.

Existence as Ethnic Minority in Exile

The wife, in her early thirties, and Idris, 37, are members of the Uyghur community, which makes up about 50% of the residents in China's north-western Xinjiang region. Over the last ten years, over a 1,000,000 Uyghurs are estimated to have been imprisoned in alleged "re-education camps," where they faced torture for ordinary actions like going to a place of worship or using a headscarf.

The couple had been among many of Uyghurs who escaped to Turkey during the 2010s. They hoped they would find refuge in their new home, but soon realized they were wrong.

"Authorities informed me that the Chinese government threatened to close all its industrial plants in the country if Morocco freed him," she explained.

After moving in Istanbul, Zeynure worked as an language instructor, while Idris started as a translator and designer, helping to produce Uyghur media and printed works. They had three children and enjoyed able to practice as Muslims.

But when one of Idris's best friends, who worked in a library stocking Uyghur books, was arrested in the mid-year of 2021, Idris panicked. Reports indicated that Beijing was pressuring Turkey to extradite Uyghurs. Idris felt at risk due to his prior arrest, which he believed was connected to his work with advocates and supporting Uyghur heritage. He decided to escape to Morocco, but Zeynure, whose Chinese passport had expired, had to stay behind with the children until her husband could request a visa for the family.

A Terrible Mistake

Departing Turkey proved to be a terrible decision. At the Istanbul airport, border control officials took Idris aside for interrogation. "When he was finally permitted to get on the plane, he told me how happy he was that they had released him, but it felt like a trap to me," she recalled. Her deepest concerns were realized when he was taken off the plane and detained by Moroccan authorities.

Over the last ten years, China has been utilizing the international police agency Interpol to pursue political refugees and had asked for Idris to be added on the agency's high-priority "red notice list." Zeynure claims Turkish officials let him board the flight knowing he would be arrested upon landing in Morocco.

What followed would lead her to do what many Uyghurs fear most: challenge China, regardless of the consequences.

Family Pressure

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

Her parents had a disturbing message. "They told me, 'We know your husband is not with you. Maybe we can help you,'" she explained. "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 risk, the quiet-mannered Zeynure was not going to stay quiet. She had grown up seeing women having their hijabs forcibly removed in public by the authorities and had been resolved to live in a country with freedom of belief.

"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 tell the truth to the world. Everyone knows Uyghurs sent to China will be tortured or die. They pushed me to raise my voice."

Growing Up in Xinjiang

Zeynure has different types of memories of her early years in Xinjiang. The first was of happy days spent in the countryside with her grandparents, who were farmers. "I used to play with the animals and chickens. 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 picture from a story."

The second was as a Muslim Uyghur in Xinjiang, of school holidays cut short by forced teachings of "communist songs" and being prohibited from attending the religious site or observing Ramadan.

China claims it is tackling extremism through 'controlling illegal religious activities' and 'vocational education facilities', but other countries, including the US, say its actions constitute ethnic cleansing. Zeynure says she never felt able to practice her religious beliefs in Xinjiang. "People who went on pilgrimage to Mecca abroad were detained and sent to prison and told they must have some problem in their mind.

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

She eventually decided to depart China after returning home from university in another part of China to a increasing crackdown on beliefs in 2011. It was then that she was introduced to Idris by one of her classmates. "She knew we both had made the choice to go overseas and told us maybe we could meet and go together."

Zeynure says she was immediately comforted by Idris. "I realized he was very truthful and reserved, and couldn't be dishonest 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 two months they were married and ready to leave for a new life in Turkey. They knew it was an Islamic country with many Muslims and Uyghurs already residing there, with a similar language and common ethnicity. "It was like Uyghurs' second home," says Zeynure. As a teacher and creative, they could also support the community in diaspora. "There are many kids now in China being raised without Uyghur traditions or language so we think it's our responsibility to not let it die out," she says.

But their relief at finding a place of safety abroad was temporary. Beijing has become a global leader in pursuing critics living in exile through the use of electronic surveillance, threats and physical assault. But what Idris was faced was a newer tool of control: using China's growing economic leverage to force other nations to yield to its will, including detaining and deporting Uyghurs it wants to suppress.

Fighting for Freedom

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

Zeynure started protesting with her children at the Moroccan embassy in Istanbul, and sharing information on online platforms. To her surprise, copycat protests soon followed in Morocco calling for Idris's release. Moroccan officials were forced to issue a statement saying his extradition was a issue for the courts to determine.

In the start of August 2021, Interpol withdrew Idris's red notice after being pressed 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 diplomatic pressure from Beijing, which made {little sense|