SEEKING A PLACE TO BREATHE FREELY

The oa desied that, I as so fighteed, ad askig Wh e ae alas eig aested the
polie? We ee aested at hoe ad o ae aested ee aa fo hoe. 30
Amazingly, the combined group numbered
close to 280 and would ultimately be
split—around 173 were eventually safely
flown to Turkey 31 and the remaining 109,
who would be forcibly extradited to China
in response, as was widely reported. 32 It
was in this group that two sisters explained
that mothers were separated from their
children, wives from their husbands and
brothers from their sisters. One woman
explained that, Woe ho staed gae
their children to the women who were
leaving. Some of them were babies. I
aied the to hilde of oe oa. 33
Uyghurs held in Thai detention facilities in and around Bangkok for
months without access to medical treatment.
She also went on to say that by her estimate, there were nearly 40 children who were made parentless
as both their mother and fathers were sent back to China separately. In one case, she explained that the
mother and elder sister of a 14-year-old girl were sent back to China, while she was able to make it to
Turkey one her own.
They didt torture e [in Malaysia]. That was what
made me happy when I was in the jail.
Others who managed to reach Malaysia were also arrested as one man, who had been travelling with his
two sons, was detained by Malaysian police because he did not have proper identification documents
and remained in jail for 90 days. He also described the poor conditions in the prison, but noted that they
ee ot opaale to Chia ad eplaied that, The didt totue e [i Malaysia]. That was what
ade e happ he I as i the jail. 34 He also went on to describe that Chinese officials came to
interrogate him on two separate occasions in an attempt to extract information about his background,
but cited his ability to speak Arabic as his defense. 35 Those who were able to stay out of the reach of
police and immigration authorities were crammed into tiny apartment units and were forced to deal with
scorching temperatures and a severe lack of ventilation.
Purchasing Passports
Many of the Uyghurs who were able to stay out of detention in Thailand and Malaysia weighed their
options about whether to remain in Southeast Asia, or whether they would look into escaping to Turkey,
further beyond the reach of the Chinese government.
Everyone bought a Turkish passport in Malaysia. The
ae o it ast our true aes, but we received
documents in those names after we came to Turkey.
Among those whom we spoke with, all were able to obtain forged Turkish passports and bribed officials
for stamps from Malaysian immigration authorities that would allow them to fly to Turkey directly or
indirectly. The process typically followed the same pattern in most cases. Fake passports were purchased
10 World Uyghur Congress | June 2016