Australia requests Beijing let family of Uyghur man leave China following Four Corners program
ABC, 17 July 2019
By Melissa Clarke – Sadam Abudusalamu, a Uyghur Australian man, spoke out against the widespread persecution of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in China’s far-western Xinjiang region on the ABC’s Four Corners program this week.
His wife Nadila Wumaier, who has been prevented from leaving Xinjiang, was detained and questioned by Chinese authorities in the city of Urumqi yesterday about her husband’s remarks, but has since been released.
Mr Abudusalamu has been asking the Federal Government to help bring his wife and two-year-old son Lutfy to Australia.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement that she was “aware of reports that Mr Abudusalamu’s wife was questioned.”
Ms Payne added however that “it is important to note that as Ms Wumaier is not an Australian citizen, we do not have an entitlement to consular access”.
“The Embassy in Beijing have formally requested that the Chinese authorities allow Ms Wumaier and her son [who is an Australian citizen] to travel to Australia.”
The Four Corners program highlighted the plight of Uyghur Australians with family members still trapped back in Xinjiang, while outlining how Uyghur Muslim detainees are used as labourers in garment factories.
Following the airing of Monday’s Four Corners, the Chinese Embassy in Australia released a statement lashing out at the program as being “full of lies, distortion and bias” while defending the current situation in Xinjiang as being a successful counter-terrorism and deradicalisation program. The statement has been widely picked up on and circulated throughout China.
Police asked for Australian man’s address
PHOTO: Sadam Abudusalamu, standing outside Ms Payne’s office, holds his son Lutfy’s Australian passport and citizenship certificate. (Supplied)
Mr Abudusalamu welcomed Senator Payne’s statement, but urged further action.
“I really appreciate what she is doing but … as a father and a husband … I still need more,” he said.
He has told the ABC of the pressure placed on his wife following the broadcast of Monday’s program.
“She went to the police station and the Chinese Government already told her to tell me to keep my mouth shut, not saying anything else, or maybe her life [would be] in danger.”
“And then they asked for all my personal identification, my passport number, where I live, what I do for work.
“It makes me really scared, like I feel like I’m not going to be safe in Australia.”
China’s policies in Xinjiang exposed
There are 11 million Uyghurs in China, a Muslim minority that live in the far-western region of Xinjiang.
Mr Abudusalamu told Four Corners that Chinese authorities were effectively outlawing Islam in the region.
He said Uyghurs “can’t pray, can’t fast, need to speak Chinese in the school”.
Mr Abudusalamu also outlined high-level security that Chinese authorities have put in place in Xinjiang, including checking the contents of people’s mobile phones.
“They scan everything and if there’s WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, anything religious scholar, speech, praying app, that kind of apps in your phone, you’re in trouble.”