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The Experiment Podcast: A Uyghur Teen’s Life After Escaping Genocide

The Experiment Podcast: A Uyghur Teen’s Life After Escaping Genocide

The Atlantic, 19 August 2021

Below is an article published by The Atlantic. Photo courtesy of Aséna Tahir Izgil.

Here in the United States, 19-year-old Aséna Tahir Izgil feels as though she’s a “grandma.” Aséna is Uyghur, an ethnic minority being targeted by the Chinese government in what other nations have called a genocide. The pain she witnessed before escaping in 2017 has aged her beyond her years, she says, making it hard to relate to American teenagers.

“They talk about … TikToks … clothing, malls, games, movies, and stuff,” she says. “And then the things I think about [are] genocide, Uyghurs, international policies … all the annoying adult facts.”

For years, the Chinese government has been persecuting her people, but few have escaped to bear witness. This week on The Experiment: Aséna shares her family’s story of fleeing to the U.S. to escape genocide, adjusting to newfound freedom, and trying to deal with the grief and guilt of being a refugee.

This episode’s guests include Aséna Tahir Izgil and her father, Tahir Hamut Izgil, a Uyghur poet and author.

[Listen to the full podcast here].