Since 1997, the Chinese government has engaged in an unprecedented scale of abuse and reprisals – often called “transnational repression” – against Uyghurs living abroad. These are the 440 people in 40 countries known to have faced detention, deportation, and more from 1997 until March 2021.
The Chinese Communist Party can reach far across the world. From Istanbul to Paris, Pakistan to Canada, Uyghurs have felt the oppression of the Xinjiang regime continue to haunt them, sometimes for decades after they have left China. As Xinjiang transforms into an ever more tightly surveilled digital prison, Uyghurs living around the world have experienced parallel versions of that regime while living abroad. By telling the stories of Uyghurs who have been intimidated, threatened and surveilled outside China’s borders, we illustrate the scale of this program of transnational repression.
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