When Hayrullah Mai*, a Uyghur-Australian, travelled to China in 2017 to visit his wife and stepson, he was unprepared for the terrifying experience that would follow.
After arriving at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Sichuan province, Hayrullah told SBS Chinese that he was met by Chinese authorities before three police officers then escorted him to a flight to Urumqi in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
He was then sent to a detention centre and detained for nearly three weeks.
"They chained me and handcuffed me," he said, adding that he was locked up with dozens of people.
"There wasn't enough room to sleep, we just slept for two hours and then stood up. Then the next group of people would sleep for two hours."
Hayrullah said he was forced to watch "brainwashing TV programs" for up to six hours a day, which were "mainly about some policy regulations of the [Chinese] Communist Party and that ‘Xi Jinping is a good leader.'"
He said the Australian government had negotiated with the Chinese authorities on his behalf, and asked China to provide reasonable evidence for the detention of Australians.
"They had no solid evidence and had to let me out," he said.
After his release, Hayrullah was finally able to meet his family, but after just over a week, he was forced to leave the country by China and banned from entering the country for five years.
After returning to Australia, he immediately applied for permanent residency visas for his family, which were approved in August 2018, but his family remained trapped in China.
The Xinjiang Police Files contain another set of unique photographs that appear to only further highlight the extreme levels of physical control on Uyghurs. Source: BBC
Despite reporting the situation to the relevant authorities many times, his wife and stepson have not been able to retrieve their passports.
He believes the only reason he has been targeted by Chinese authorities is because he became an Australian citizen by naturalization.
"They suspect that I have a relationship with some organisational departments and some political figures abroad. But to be honest, I have no relationship or political views. I am just doing my own construction work here [in Australia]," he said.
Hayrullah has also actively sought help from Australian government agencies and officials, without much success.
The Department of Home Affairs has helped him to extend the validity period of the entry activation of his family's visas, and he also said that he would continue to negotiate with the Australian government and seek consular assistance regarding the seizure of his family’s passports.
China’s treatment of Uyghurs may constitute crimes against humanity: UN
Hayrullah’s story is not a new one, but comes after the United Nations released a long-delayed report on China’s treatment of mostly Muslim ethnic Uyghurs on 31 August.
The report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) found China had committed “serious human rights violations” against Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
"The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups ... may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity," the report said.
The report was released just minutes before UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet’s four-year term expired.
Uyghur-Australians choose to remain silent
Uyghurs who have migrated overseas are a major source of information for human rights groups. But Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women's Association (AUTWA) president Ramila Chanisheff told SBS Chinese that many Uyghurs chose to remain silent out of concern for the safety of family members.
Hayrullah said he knew of 17 other Uyghur-Australians who had encountered similar problems as him, and were separated from their families.
Ms Chanisheff said while the exact figure could not be confirmed, "there are Australians with family members languishing in either prison or camps, or in house arrest by the Chinese Government".
Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Association president Ramila Chanisheff says Australia has an obligation to denounce CCP's treatment of her people as genocide. Source: Supplied / Supplied / Ramila Chanisheff
Ms Chanisheff said the release of the report just minutes before the end of Ms Bachelet’s term "was a cowardice step from her" but welcomed the report's release, saying it provided more evidence about the plight of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
"But now we need action, and the Australian Government needs to take tangible action to stop these crimes against humanity, and the International Community needs to take these steps too," she said.
'Discrimination has always existed'
Yaqiu Wang, a senior researcher on China at Human Rights Watch, believes that China's main purpose for detaining Uyghurs' passports is they "do not want these people to be able to leave China and be able to tell their stories".
"If these people start telling what happened to them, it's exposing human rights abuses against them by the Chinese government."
Ms Wang said discrimination against Uyghurs among Chinese people has existed for a long time.
"Discrimination has always existed. It is difficult for Uyghurs to survive in a system dominated by Han Chinese, because the language and culture of the main body are not yours," she said.
Human Rights Watch senior China researcher Yaqiu Wang. Source: SBS
They want to say what they want to say, and they want their own rights, not controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.Yaqiu Wang, Human Rights Watch Senior China researcher
"[The Chinese government] wants Uyghurs not to speak their own language, not practice their own religious customs and culture, and make them non-Uyghurs," she said.
China calls the report a 'completely fabricated lie'
Before the report was released, Zhang Jun, China's top envoy to the United Nations, said Beijing had repeatedly expressed its opposition to the report.
"We all know so well that the so-called Xinjiang issue is a completely fabricated lie out of political motivations, and its purpose is definitely to undermine China's stability and to obstruct China's development," he told reporters last week.
For the report, Ms Bachelet paid a six-day visit to China in May this year, becoming the first UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit China in 17 years.
During the period, she visited Xinjiang, but due to what the Chinese government referred to as pandemic restrictions, her visit was carefully controlled, which raised concerns from human rights activists.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) meets with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in Guangzhou. Source: Getty / Xinhua News Agency/Xinhua News Agency via Getty Ima
For Hayrullah and other Uyghur-Australians suffering from the separation from their loved ones, Ms Chanisheff said efforts were being made to ensure the families were reunited safely.
"We have been talking to the Australian Government on progressing their applications to ensure a safe reunification of these families. We have presented to the Hon. Minister Andrew Giles, Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs of Australia on these cases," she said.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong also issued a statement on 1 September expressing deep concern over the findings of the UN report.
"Australia has consistently condemned human rights violations against the Uyghurs and other ethnic and Muslim minorities in Xinjiang and across China," Ms Wong said.
"The Australian Government has emphasised the importance of transparency and accountability, in calling on China to grant meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for United Nations experts, and other independent observers.
"Our thoughts are also with the Australian-Uyghur community. We acknowledge the strength and determination they have shown in speaking out, in support of their loved ones."
* name has been changed to protect their identity
