A covert operation is underway to help Uyghurs in China reunite with their families in the United States. Diplomats worked to bring together relatives who had been separated for years due to China’s strict treatment of the ethnic group, just in time for Thanksgiving.
A covert operation is underway to bring Uyghurs who are stuck in China to the United States. On the night before Thanksgiving, American diplomats successfully brought together family members who had been separated for years due to China’s oppressive treatment of the Uyghur ethnic group.
Ayshem Mamut was visiting her son’s house in Virginia on Sunday. Photo credit goes to Moriah Ratner from The New York Times.
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Written by Edward Wong
Edward Wong has covered China’s policies in its border regions as a diplomatic reporter in Washington and as the Beijing bureau chief for The Times. He also wrote a new book focusing on China.
The police officers arrived at Ayshem Mamut’s residence in northwest China one week ago.
She was instructed to gather her belongings. There was a possibility that she could be sent to a prison, a detention center, or an internment camp, similar to the fate of numerous Uyghur Muslims who have disappeared without a trace, often for extended periods of time.
However, just four days later, the 73-year-old woman from China was in Virginia celebrating Thanksgiving with her two sons whom she hadn’t seen in two decades, as well as her four grandchildren whom she had never met before.
While enjoying a meal of traditional Uyghur cuisine, which included noodle soup, lamb stew, broiled chicken, salad, and rice with chickpeas, she alternated between talking and crying.
Recently, it was reported that China released three American men, including an informant for the FBI, in return for the release of two Chinese spies and another Chinese citizen. Additionally, China agreed to allow Ms. Mamut and two other Uyghurs, one of whom is a U.S. citizen, to depart the country and go to the United States as part of the agreement.
The Biden administration has not publicly disclosed the portion of the agreement related to the Uyghurs, and this information is being reported for the first time.
Ms. Mamut expressed that waking up in America and being reunited with her family, particularly her grandchildren, feels like a dream come true to her.
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