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In the summer of 2021, Zeynure Hasan was at her residence in Turkey's largest city when she received a long-awaited phone call from her husband. There had been four stressful days since their last contact, when he was preparing to take a flight to Casablanca. The lack of communication had been difficult.

But the news her husband Idris shared was even worse. He told her that upon arrival in Morocco, he had been detained and jailed. Authorities informed him he would be deported to China. "Call anyone who can help me," he urged, before the line went dead.

Existence as Uyghurs in Turkey

Zeynure, 31 years old, and Idris, in his late thirties, are members of the mostly Muslim ethnic group, which constitutes about half of the residents in China's north-western Xinjiang province. Over the past decade, over a 1,000,000 Uyghurs are reported to have been detained in so-called "vocational training camps," where they faced torture for ordinary actions like going to a mosque or using a headscarf.

The couple had joined many of Uyghurs who escaped to Turkey during the 2010s. They hoped they would find refuge in exile, but soon realized they were wrong.

"Authorities informed me that the Beijing officials threatened to close all its industrial plants in the country if Morocco released him," she explained.

After settling in Istanbul, Zeynure worked as an English teacher, while Idris began as a interpreter and designer, helping to produce Uyghur news and printed works. They had a family of three kids and enjoyed able to practice as Muslims.

But when one of Idris's best friends, who worked in a book repository containing Uyghur books, was arrested in the mid-year of 2021, Idris became fearful. News indicated that Beijing was pressuring Turkey to extradite Uyghurs. Idris felt at risk due to his prior arrest, 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 lapsed, had to stay behind with the children until her husband could apply for a visa for the family.

A Terrible Error

Leaving Turkey turned out to be a terrible decision. At the Istanbul airport, immigration officials pulled him aside for interrogation. "When he was eventually allowed to board the plane, he told me how relieved he was that they had let him go, but it felt like a set-up to me," she recalled. 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 global police agency Interpol to pursue dissidents and had requested for Idris to be placed on the agency's most-wanted "alert list." Zeynure claims Turkish officials let him board the flight knowing he would be apprehended upon landing in Morocco.

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

Family Interference

Shortly after hearing of her husband's arrest, Zeynure received an unexpected phone call from her parents in Xinjiang. She had been cut off from her family since they visited her in Turkey in 2016 and were imprisoned for several months upon their return to China.

Her parents had a chilling message. "They said, 'We know your husband is not with you. Perhaps we can help you,'" Zeynure explained. "I knew there must be some police there with them and just acted like I didn't know anything. But they insisted and told me not to do anything to help my husband. 'Avoid doing anything except feeding 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 stay quiet. She had grown up witnessing women having their head coverings ripped off in open by the police and had been resolved to live in a country with freedom of belief.

"Prior to 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 these platforms. But I had to do something to save my husband – I had to tell the reality to the international community. Everyone knows Uyghurs deported to China will be abused or die. They forced 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 elders, who were agricultural workers. "I used to play with the animals and chickens. I don't know if I will ever have that kind of chance again. The relatives around the house and land. It was too wonderful, like a scene from a book."

The second was as a religious minority in Xinjiang, of school holidays cut short by forced teachings of "political anthems" and being banned from going to the religious site or practicing Ramadan.

China says it is addressing extremism through 'controlling illegal religious activities' and 'vocational education centers', but other countries, including the US, say its actions amount to ethnic cleansing. Zeynure says she never felt free to follow her faith in Xinjiang. "Individuals who went on pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia were detained and sent to jail and told they must have some problem in their mind.

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

She finally decided to leave China after returning home from college in another part of China to a increasing crackdown on religious freedoms in 2011. It was then that she was introduced to Idris by one of her school friends. "She was aware we both had taken the decision to go abroad and told us maybe we could get together and go as a group."

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 bad. There were some Uyghur boys at university who wanted to marry 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 believers and Uyghurs already residing there, with a comparable language and shared ethnicity. "It felt like Uyghurs' second home," says Zeynure. As a teacher and designer, they could also support the Uyghur population in exile. "There are many kids now in China being raised without Uyghur traditions or language so we think it's our duty to not let it disappear," she says.

But their relief at locating a secure location abroad was short-lived. Beijing has become a global leader in pursuing critics living in exile through the use of electronic surveillance, threats and violence. But what Idris was faced was a newer method of repression: using China's growing economic leverage to force other nations to yield to its demands, including detaining and deporting Uyghurs it wants to silence.

Fighting for Release

After the phone call from Idris, and learning he had an Interpol red notice hanging over him, Zeynure knew she only had a short window of chance to try to stop his deportation to China. She immediately reached out to as many Uyghur support groups as she could find listed on the internet in Europe and the US and pleaded for help. She was fearless despite China having already demonstrated a willingness to go after the family members of other targets.

Zeynure started protesting with her children at the Moroccan embassy in Istanbul, and posting updates on social media. To her amazement, similar protests soon followed in Morocco demanding Idris's freedom. Moroccan officials were forced to issue a announcement saying his deportation was a issue for the judicial system to determine.

In the start of August 2021, Interpol cancelled Idris's red notice after being urged to reexamine his case by advocacy organizations. But that did not stop a Moroccan court later ruling he should still be sent back to China. Zeynure says there was significant political influence from Beijing, which made {little sense|