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In the summer of 2021, a Uyghur woman named Zeynure 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 contact, when he was getting ready to board a flight to Morocco. The lack of communication had been difficult.

But the news her husband Idris revealed was more alarming. He told her that upon arrival in Morocco, he had been arrested and imprisoned. Authorities told him he would be sent back to China. "Reach out to anyone who can help me," he pleaded, before the line went dead.

Existence as Uyghurs in Exile

The wife, in her early thirties, and Idris, in his late thirties, are members of the Uyghur ethnic group, which constitutes about 50% of the residents in China's north-western Xinjiang province. Over the past decade, over a 1,000,000 Uyghurs are estimated to have been detained in so-called "re-education camps," where they faced mistreatment for commonplace acts like attending a mosque or wearing a hijab.

The couple had been among thousands of Uyghurs who fled to Turkey during the 2010s. They believed they would find refuge in exile, but quickly realized they were mistaken.

"I was told that the Chinese government warned to close all its factories in the country if Morocco released him," she explained.

After settling in Istanbul, Zeynure became an language instructor, while Idris started as a translator and designer, helping to publish Uyghur media and publications. They had three children and enjoyed free to practice as followers of Islam.

But when one of Idris's close friends, who worked in a book repository 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 previous arrest, which he suspected was linked to his work with advocates and promoting Uyghur culture. He chose to escape to Morocco, but Zeynure, whose Chinese passport had expired, had to remain with the children until her husband could apply for a travel document for the whole family.

A Terrible Mistake

Leaving Turkey turned out to be a terrible mistake. At the Istanbul airport, immigration officials pulled him aside for questioning. "After he was eventually allowed to board the plane, he told me how relieved he was that they had released him, but it felt like a trap to me," she said. Her deepest concerns were realized 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 asked for Idris to be added on the agency's high-priority "red notice list." Zeynure claims Turkish officials allowed him board the flight aware he would be apprehended upon landing in Morocco.

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

Family Interference

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

Her parents had a disturbing message. "They said, 'We know your husband is not with you. Perhaps we can help you,'" she explained. "I knew there must be some authorities there with them and just acted 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 life at risk, the softly spoken Zeynure was not going to stay quiet. She had grown up witnessing women having their head coverings forcibly removed in open by the police and had been resolved to live in a country with religious freedom.

"Before 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 rescue my husband – I had to reveal the reality to the international community. Everyone knows Uyghurs sent to China will be abused or killed. They pushed me to speak out."

Growing Up in Xinjiang

Zeynure has different types of memories of her childhood in Xinjiang. The first was of blissful days spent in the countryside with her grandparents, who were farmers. "I used to play with the animals and poultry. I don't know if I will ever have that type of opportunity again. The relatives around the home and land. It was too beautiful, like a scene from a story."

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

China claims it is addressing extremism through 'controlling illegal religious activities' and 'vocational education centers', but other countries, including the US, say its actions amount to genocide. Zeynure says she never felt free to practice her religious beliefs in Xinjiang. "People who went on religious journey to Mecca abroad were detained and sent to prison and told they must have some problem in their brain.

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

She eventually decided to depart China after returning home from university in another part of 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 maybe we could meet and go together."

Zeynure says she was right away reassured by Idris. "I realized he was very truthful and reserved, and couldn't be dishonest or do anything wrong. 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 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 shared background. "It felt like Uyghurs' second home," says Zeynure. As a educator and designer, they could also support the community in diaspora. "There are many children now in China growing up without Uyghur traditions or dialect so we think it's our responsibility to not let it disappear," she says.

But their relief at locating a secure location overseas was temporary. Beijing has become a global leader in pursuing dissidents abroad through the use of monitoring, intimidation and violence. But what Idris was subjected to was a newer tool of repression: using China's increasing financial influence to pressure other countries to bend to its will, including detaining and extraditing Uyghurs it wants to silence.

Campaigning for Freedom

After the phone call from Idris, and learning he had an Interpol alert hanging over him, Zeynure knew she only had a short window of chance to try to stop his extradition to China. She immediately reached out to as many Uyghur support groups as she could find listed online in the EU and the US and begged for assistance. She was brave despite China having already shown a willingness to go after the family members of other individuals.

Zeynure started demonstrating with her children at the diplomatic mission in Istanbul, and sharing information on social media. To her amazement, similar protests soon followed in Morocco demanding Idris's release. Moroccan officials were forced to issue a announcement saying his deportation was a matter for the courts to decide.

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