Overseas Uighurs tell of Beijing intimidation

Uighurs and their supporters rally outside the Chinese Embassy in London earlier this year. Photo: AFP

Uighurs who escaped China's crackdown in Xinjiang still live in fear, saying new homes abroad and even Western passports afford them no protection against a state-driven global campaign of intimidation.



With menacing text and voice messages, and explicit threats to relatives still living in Xinjiang, China's powerful state security apparatus appears to have extended its reach to Uighurs living as far away as New Zealand and the United States, in a bid to silence activists and recruit informants.



The Communist Party's dragnet in Xinjiang has swept an estimated 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities into "vocational education centres" that numerous studies and reports have exposed as harsh internment camps.



For those who managed to get out and settle overseas, the search for a true haven has remained elusive as they complain they and their families have been remotely harried and harassed to the point of desperation.



Guly Mahsut, who fled to Canada, says she became suicidal and was admitted to hospital after being bombarded with messages from Xinjiang police threatening her family in the troubled province.



"You should have been more co-operative. Don't become the source of misfortune for your relatives and family in Toksun. You should be more considerate of your family," read one message, allegedly from an official named "Kaysar".



The 37-year-old believes she was targeted because she spoke out against authorities online, and has helped stateless Uighurs seek help abroad.



She received messages from relatives - including her younger sister - pleading with her to "cooperate" with authorities.



Mahsut is one of more than a dozen Uighur exiles AFP interviewed across four continents that gave access to scores of text and voice messages - purportedly from Chinese security operatives - demanding their silence or cooperation.



Together they point to a systemic effort to infiltrate diaspora communities, recruit informants, sow mistrust and stifle criticism of the regime.



Shir Muhammad Hasan managed to get to Australia in 2017. Having secured refugee status, he thought he was safe.



Little more than a year later, the sinister messages began to arrive. "I suppose your family already told you that I have been searching for you?" read the first.



More texts followed, in turn demanding the 32-year-old turn over dossiers about his life, and then came persistent requests to arrange a time to "get to know each other better."



"I told you to send me a brief introduction of yourself, but you didn't," the sender said in a local Uighur dialect, punctuated with a smattering of Mandarin Chinese, adding: "We should sit down and have a chat."



The barrage lasted six months and then abruptly stopped, leaving Hasan in turmoil - unsure if and when the torment will begin again.



AFP has no way of independently verifying who sent these or similar messages. They were sent using encrypted WhatsApp accounts and linked to inactive Hong Kong cell numbers or in some cases "ID spoofed" numbers that mask the source.



Asked to respond to this report, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said accounts of Uighur exiles being intimidated were "groundless" and based on testimony from "professional critics" seeing to smear and slander China. (AFP)