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Denver- NGO group Amnesty International petitioned Moroccan officials against deporting a Uighur man, who they claim is at risk of persecution if returned to China.
The group released a statement Tuesday detailing the predicament of 34 year old Idris Hasan. Hasan was arrested last week, after flying to Morocco from Turkey. He was then taken to a detention center outside of the town of Tiflet, where his future remains uncertain. According to Hasan’s wife, Hasan called shortly after being arrested to tell her he believed “he would soon be deported to China.”
Hasan, a Chinese national, has lived in Turkey since 2012 under a temporary residency permit with his wife and three children. Although his wife and children hold permanent residency status in Turkey, Hasan’s permit was listed as a “humanitarian permit,” and was set to expire. Uighurs have fled China in large numbers, after reports of widespread detention of the minority group by Chinese authorities.
The Uighurs are a predominantly Muslim Turkic ethnic group that are native to China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Human rights groups report that the Uighurs are currently facing widespread persecution within their home territory, with allegations of torture, and detention in political prisons by the Chinese government.
According to reports by the New York Times, at the request of the Chinese government, countries have deported “more than 300 Uighurs back to China since 2010.” These Uighurs are often the victims of significant punishment upon their return.
Beijing has requested Rabat to return Hasan to China immediately. Amnesty International reports that Beijing has categorized Hasan as a “terrorist,” due to work he has done in support of pro-Uighur organizations.
Although currently residing in China, the Uighurs are historically a Turkic ethnic group, with close historical and cultural ties to the Turkish people. Since China began a crackdown on the Uighur population, Beijing has banned several names which it deems to be too Islamic, in addition to banning the wearing of traditional Islamic clothing and “abnormally” long beards, reports BBC.
While China maintains this is part of its strategy to combat the threat of Islamic militants in the region, the Uighurs maintain it is a part of China’s long term plan to erase the Uighur’s way of life, as China seeks to integrate them into mainstream Chinese society.
