The Escape of a Uyghur Woman (Part II)

Returning to China from Egypt, Mina faced detention, interrogation, and torture. (Image: via Radio Free Asia)

The Uyghur woman had much difficulty with the Xinjiang police. The Xinjiang police said that they would send her children to an orphanage called the “Angel Center.” The children are “little angels” because the parents of the “little angels” are in prison. They falsified Chinese passports for her two children.

I said: “The two children are not Chinese. They don’t have Chinese names. They both have Egyptian passports. The children also have visas from the Chinese Embassy in Egypt. You can’t send them to the orphanage. If you send the children away, the Egyptian Embassy will try to find them.” Later, they checked my house, found the children’s’ passports, and contacted the Egyptian Embassy in Xinjiang to have them come to take my children away. The Egyptian Embassy staff heard the news and asked the police to arrange a meeting with me. I hoped that the Egyptian Embassy staff could find a way to save us.

Xinjiang police said the Uyghur woman's children were now regarded as orphans.
Xinjiang police said her children were now regarded as orphans. (Image: via Pixabay)

Twenty days later, the Egyptian Embassy gave me the documents from Egypt that proved that I am an Egyptian. As a result, the police agreed to let the children go, but not me. They argued for seven or eight hours and finally agreed to release me. However, I was stopped at the exit checkpoint at the Beijing International Airport and I missed several flights.

The second time, I used the passport given to me by the Egyptian Embassy instead of my Chinese passport. They still insisted on detaining me. The customs official found my Chinese passport number. I said: “I was originally a Chinese citizen, but China didn’t want me. Now, I want to go out as a foreigner, but you won’t let me go.” I know they deliberately delayed the process.

The third time, the Egyptian Embassy staff said that they wanted the Egyptian president and President Xi Jinping to communicate first, and then, they would get a visa for me. The customs official insisted on accompanying me to the plane and said: “You are Chinese, your body has Chinese blood, we have cultivated you, sent you to college, and you lived well. Don’t forget, your parents are under Chinese protection; we’ll welcome you to come back.”

The Uyghur woman finally gets to the US

When the plane arrived in the United States, I cried. I was crying after I left the country. I always thought about the days when I was in prison. Did I actually die there? Am I dead? Have I been resurrected in Heaven? I feel better now, but often I have such thoughts. So, I touch myself to find out whether I am dead or alive. I don’t dare accept what happened to me in China… why should that happen? Now, people who don’t know me and people from other countries are helping me. I came to the United States. I grew up in China, but why should China treat me like this? I feel very comfortable now and many people are helping me; this really must be Heaven.

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Mina only hopes that the whole world will understand the truth of how the Uyghurs are being brutally persecuted in China. (Image: via Pixabay)

I still remember the 21-year-old girl I befriended while being held in prison. The only crime she committed was wearing a headscarf. After seeing her death, I never thought I would survive. I used to want to have a normal life with my husband, my classmates, and family. Now, I only hope that the whole world will understand the truth of how the Uyghurs are being brutally persecuted in China.

The only thing that makes me happy now is that I can see the sun every day, there are people around, and I can hear the birds singing occasionally. I thank God. I have no more demands on the world because I have already done my part to expose the truth.

See Part 1 here.

Translated by Yi Ming

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