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In July 2021, Zeynure Hasan was at her home in Turkey's largest city when she received a desperately anticipated phone call from her husband. There had been four painful days since their last communication, when he was preparing to take a flight to Morocco. The lack of communication had been unbearable.

But the news her husband Idris revealed was even worse. He informed her that upon arrival in Morocco, he had been detained and jailed. Authorities stated he would be sent back to China. "Call everyone who can rescue me," he pleaded, before the line went silent.

Existence as Ethnic Minority in Exile

The wife, in her early thirties, and Idris, in his late thirties, are part of the mostly Muslim ethnic group, which constitutes about 50% of the population in China's north-western Xinjiang province. Over the last ten years, more than a million Uyghurs are believed to have been detained in so-called "re-education camps," where they faced torture for commonplace acts like going to a mosque or wearing a hijab.

The couple had been among thousands of Uyghurs who fled to Turkey during the 2010s. They thought they would find safety in their new home, but soon discovered they were mistaken.

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

After moving in Istanbul, Zeynure became an English teacher, while Idris started as a translator and designer, helping to produce Uyghur media and printed works. They had a family of three kids and felt free to practice as followers of Islam.

But when one of Idris's close friends, who was employed in a book repository stocking Uyghur books, was detained in the summer of 2021, Idris panicked. Reports indicated that Beijing was pressuring Turkey to extradite Uyghurs. Idris felt vulnerable due to his prior detention, which he suspected was connected to his work with activists 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 apply for a travel document for the whole family.

A Costly Error

Departing Turkey turned out to be a terrible decision. At the Istanbul airport, border control officials pulled him aside for interrogation. "When he was finally permitted to get on the plane, he told me how relieved he was that they had let him go, but it felt like a set-up to me," Zeynure said. Her worst fears were confirmed when he was taken off the plane and arrested by border officials.

Over the last ten years, China has been utilizing the international police agency Interpol to target political refugees and had asked for Idris to be placed on the agency's most-wanted "alert list." Zeynure claims Turkish officials let him take the flight knowing he would be arrested upon arrival in Morocco.

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

Family Pressure

Soon after hearing of her husband's detention, Zeynure got an unexpected phone call from her family in Xinjiang. She had been cut off from her family since they came to see her in Turkey in 2016 and were imprisoned for a few months upon their return to China.

Her parents had a chilling message. "They told me, 'We know your husband is not with you. Maybe we can assist you,'" Zeynure stated. "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. 'Avoid doing anything except caring for your children,' they told me. 'Avoid saying anything bad about China.'"

But with her husband's life at risk, the quiet-mannered Zeynure was not going to remain silent. She had been raised witnessing women having their head coverings forcibly removed in public by the authorities and had been resolved to live in a country with freedom of belief.

"Before 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 Twitter. But I had to do something to rescue my husband – I had to reveal the reality to the world. Everyone knows Uyghurs sent to China will be abused or die. They forced me to speak out."

Childhood in Xinjiang

Zeynure has two distinct types of recollections of her early years in Xinjiang. The first was of happy days spent in the rural areas with her elders, who were farmers. "I'd 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 vacations interrupted by mandatory teachings of "political anthems" and being banned from attending the mosque or practicing Ramadan.

China claims it is addressing extremism through 'controlling unauthorized religious activities' and 'vocational education facilities', but other nations, 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 detained and sent to jail and told they must have some issue in their mind.

"They aimed for Uyghur people to forget their religion and culture. They said 'you should trust in us, we gave you employment and this good life here'," says Zeynure.

She eventually decided to depart China after coming back home from college in another part of China to a increasing crackdown on beliefs in 2011. It was then that she was connected to Idris by one of her school friends. "She was aware we both had made the decision to go overseas and told us maybe we could meet and go together."

Zeynure says she was right away comforted by Idris. "I realized he was very truthful and reserved, and couldn't tell lies or do anything bad. There were some Uyghur men at university who wanted to wed me, but Idris was unique."

Fresh Start in Turkey

Within two months they were wed and prepared to leave for a different existence in Turkey. They knew it was an Islamic country with many believers and Uyghurs already living there, with a comparable tongue and common background. "It was like Uyghurs' alternative homeland," says Zeynure. As a educator and creative, they could also support the Uyghur population in exile. "We have many kids now in China growing up without Uyghur culture or language so we think it's our responsibility to not let it disappear," she says.

But their relief at finding a place of safety overseas was short-lived. Beijing has become a prominent force in targeting critics abroad through the use of electronic surveillance, threats and physical assault. But what Idris was faced was a more recent method of repression: using China's increasing economic leverage to pressure other countries to yield to its demands, including arresting and extraditing Uyghurs it wants to suppress.

Campaigning for Freedom

After the phone call from Idris, and discovering he had an Interpol alert against him, Zeynure knew she only had a limited time of chance to try to prevent his deportation to China. She immediately contacted as many Uyghur support groups as she could find listed online in the EU and the US and pleaded for assistance. She was fearless despite China having already demonstrated a readiness to target the relatives of other targets.

Zeynure started protesting with her children at the Moroccan embassy in Istanbul, and posting updates on online platforms. To her amazement, copycat protests soon followed in Morocco calling for Idris's release. Moroccan officials were forced to put out a announcement saying his deportation was a issue 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 prevent a Moroccan court later ruling he should still be extradited to China. Zeynure says there was significant diplomatic pressure from Beijing, which made {little sense|