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In the summer of 2021, Zeynure Hasan was at her home in Turkey's largest city when she got a desperately anticipated phone call from her husband. There had been four stressful days since their last communication, when he was getting ready to take a flight to Casablanca. The lack of communication had been unbearable.

But the information her husband Idris shared was more devastating. He explained that upon arrival in Morocco, he had been taken into custody and imprisoned. Authorities informed him he would be sent back to China. "Call anyone who can help me," he said, before the line went dead.

Life as Ethnic Minority in Exile

Zeynure, in her early thirties, and Idris, in his late thirties, 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 million Uyghurs are estimated to have been imprisoned in so-called "vocational training camps," where they faced mistreatment for ordinary acts like going to a place of worship or wearing a headscarf.

The couple had been among thousands of Uyghurs who fled to Turkey during the previous decade. They thought they would find security in their new home, but soon discovered they were wrong.

"I was told that the Beijing officials threatened to close all its industrial plants in the nation 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 publications. They had three children and enjoyed able to live as Muslims.

But when one of Idris's best 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 deport Uyghurs. Idris felt vulnerable due to his previous detention, which he suspected was linked to his work with activists and supporting Uyghur heritage. He chose to flee to Morocco, but Zeynure, whose Chinese passport had lapsed, had to remain with the children until her husband could request a travel document for the family.

A Terrible Mistake

Leaving Turkey proved to be a disastrous mistake. At the Istanbul airport, immigration officials pulled him aside for questioning. "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 removed from the plane and detained by border officials.

Over the past decade, China has been using the international police agency Interpol to pursue political refugees and had asked for Idris to be added on the agency's most-wanted "red notice list." Zeynure claims Turkish officials allowed him board the flight aware he would be arrested upon landing in Morocco.

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

Family Interference

Soon after hearing of her husband's arrest, Zeynure got an unexpected phone call from her family in Xinjiang. She had been separated from her relatives since they visited her in Turkey in 2016 and were jailed for several months upon their going back to China.

Her parents had a chilling message. "They told me, 'We know your husband is not with you. Maybe we can help you,'" she explained. "I realized there must be some police 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. 'Don't say anything negative about China.'"

But with her husband's safety at risk, the softly spoken Zeynure was not going to remain silent. She had been raised witnessing women having their head coverings ripped off in public by the authorities 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 looking after my family; I didn't even have Facebook or Twitter. But I had to do something to rescue my husband – I had to tell the reality to the international community. Everyone knows Uyghurs deported 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 blissful days spent in the rural areas with her grandparents, who were farmers. "I'd play with the animals and chickens. I don't know if I will ever have that type of opportunity again. The family around the house and land. It was too wonderful, like a picture from a book."

The second was as a religious minority in Xinjiang, of school holidays interrupted by mandatory teachings of "political anthems" and being prohibited from going to the mosque or observing Ramadan.

China says it is addressing radicalism through 'controlling illegal religious activities' and 'vocational education centers', but other nations, including the US, say its actions constitute genocide. Zeynure says she never felt free to practice her religious beliefs in Xinjiang. "Individuals who went on pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia were detained and sent to prison and told they must have some issue in their brain.

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

She finally decided to depart China after returning home from university in Eastern China to a growing crackdown on religious freedoms in 2011. It was then that she was introduced to Idris by one of her school friends. "She knew we both had taken the decision to go abroad and told us perhaps we could get together and go as a group."

Zeynure says she was right away reassured by Idris. "I realized he was very honest and reserved, and couldn't be dishonest or do anything wrong. There were some Uyghur boys at university who wanted to wed me, but Idris was different."

Fresh Start in Turkey

Within 60 days they were wed and ready to move for a new life in Turkey. They knew it was an Islamic country with many Muslims and Uyghurs already living there, with a similar language and common background. "It was like Uyghurs' alternative homeland," says Zeynure. As a educator and designer, they could also support the community in diaspora. "We have many children now in China growing up without Uyghur culture or dialect so we think it's our duty to not let it die out," she says.

But their relief at finding a place of safety abroad was temporary. Beijing has become a prominent force in targeting critics abroad through the use of monitoring, threats and violence. But what Idris was faced was a newer tool of control: using China's increasing financial influence to pressure other countries to bend to its will, including arresting and deporting Uyghurs it wants to suppress.

Fighting 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 extradition to China. She immediately contacted as many Uyghur advocacy organizations as she could find advertised online in the EU and the US and pleaded for assistance. She was brave despite China having already demonstrated a willingness to go after the family members of other targets.

Zeynure started demonstrating with her children at the diplomatic mission in Istanbul, and sharing updates on online platforms. To her surprise, copycat protests soon followed in Morocco demanding Idris's freedom. Moroccan officials were forced to put out a announcement saying his extradition 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 stop a Moroccan court later deciding he should still be sent back to China. Zeynure says there was significant diplomatic pressure from Beijing, which made {little sense|