Waching daily Jan 1 2018

everything that has to do with Islam like hijab or a beard they label you as a "terrorist" for example, we don't have any rights.

If I say Syria, Palestine, or Myanmar

Most Muslims know what I want to talk about

But what if i say East-Turkestan

Or "Uyghurs"

Because also in West-China are Muslims as minority being pressured on

Therefrom we reached out to Abdugheni Sabit

He is an ethnic Uyghur who actively works for the interests of these Muslims that are being pressured

So we passed by to know him and to understand what exactly is happening in China

and how it is settled with the situation of the Uyghurs

and what the Muslim community can mean for the brother and sister for East-Turkestan

Abdugheni Sabit follows intensively lessons Dutch, and wanted to speak with us in Dutch

since when is your country occupied by china?

after WW2 the communist party leader Mao lead his soldiers to the occupation of East-Turkestan

and after that the name has been changed to Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

and Uyghur, is that the name of a population? what does it mean?

Uyghur is the name of a population

and do you have a separate language or a culture? what is the difference between Uyghur and other people in China?

We have Uyghurs language, own culture and we had a independent country

you also have the (Chinese) Muslims

they are native Muslims

you have 2 big Muslim populations in China, one of them is Uyghurs and the other one is the Chinese

so the Uyghurs say that they are being pressured on while there are also other Muslim populations in China

how come that the Uyghurs get bad treatment in China then? what is the reason for that?

That is very simple because the we have our own language, own culture

We had our own county while the native Chinese Muslims where always a part of China and shared the same culture and language

and how long is East-Turkestan exactly occupied by the Chinese?

67 years

Before that it was East-Turkestan Islamic Republic

so you are saying that the Uyghurs are being pressured on by the Chinese state

in which ways are they being pressured on exactly, and does the International Federation for Human Rights have any notes about what is happening?

they do write about the Uyghurs each year

but the problem is after nine eleven they banned the hijab

so you can't wear hijab in East-Turkestan?

If you work for the state or any company it is strongly forbidden

so women can only wear it in private time?

yes they only allow it in private live, but you still can't wear a full hijab. You can only wear a Uyghurs hijab

what are other forms of oppression?

children under 18 can't go to the mosque, and can't learn about Islam

and if you are under 45 you are not allowed to grow a beard out

everything that has to do with Islam like hijab or a beard they label you as a "terrorist" for example, we don't have any rights.

we also can't have more than 2 children

does the International Federation for Human Rights or etc do anything at all for the Uyghurs? or are they only writing notes?

In China we have no freedom, they try to do things but there are no actual actions against China

only demonstrations or meetings in European counties, but nothing more

are the other Muslim counties helping you giving you support?

no, because the Islamic countries have a great relationship with China

We don't get any support from a Islamic county at all

China claims that Uyghurs are engaged with terrorism and that they are forced to fight against terrorism

is it true that there is terror in East-Turkestan?

that is absolutely not true, they are lying

If there is really no terrorism in that region, from where does China get all of this from?

after eleven September they abused the situation and acted against the Uyghurs, so that was a great time for them to kill the Uyghurs and to assimilate them to Han Chinese culture

so they really abused that situation for their own advantage

so after nine eleven the Chinese try to assimilate the Uygurs to a dominant Chinese culture in China

exactly

after eleven September the Uyghurs language was forbidden to use, since then they reported that it could no longer be used

a language has nothing to do with terrorism, and for the culture

because a language and a culture is important for Uyghurs to stay themselves they ban these things to break it

It's funny that in The Netherland there is a lot of attention for the Tibetans that are also pressured on by the Chinese

but as you tell me how they treat the Uyghurs is as much as bad if no even worse, while there is no attention about that at all

they try to do things for the Uyghurs, but that is not enough

i wish that not only Netherlands but also other Western counties and the Islamic countries

to pay more attention to Uyghurs, and send their journalist to China and East-Turkestan

and see for them self's what is happening there

I know that Chinese state is not allowing but at least try and negotiate

Islamic countries must use their economic power to negotiate with them to stop the occupation on the Uyghurs

if there is an occupation for so long do the Uyghurs resist against the Chinese if so how do they do it?

no we really have no power there

The Uyghurs protested in the 90's to protest against the Chinese about the two child policy, and told that what they where doing were injustice

that what they were doing was wrong, and that we had right, but they arrested them and murdered them. And did not listen at all

so you can't even tell them that you disagree about something

we don't even have television, radio or newspaper. They are all in the control of the Chinese state

we can't say anything at all

can they not use social media to tell what is happening there? is that not possible?

we do have access to Uyghur site but

all websites are being checked by the Chinese state

for example Facebook, Twitter are blocked. In the past we had High Five that was also blocked, all social media is banned

only for example Chinese media like Witched are allowed

But those are also being watched by the state

there are a lot of Uyghurs that are refugees or immigrant on Islamic countries

is there enough recognition for the situation of the Uyghurs in countries like Turkey and Arabic countries

only Turkey

from the other Islamic countries noting

Turkey did what they can, more than 10,000 Uyghurs now live in Turkey

but other Islamic or Turkic countries have done nothing for example Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan

and Egypt

there is no recognition for the situation of the Uyghurs

they always have a good relationship with the Chinese in economic ways therefore noting at all

and the reason that Turkey is helping Uyghurs is because you share the same culture and language?

Uyghurs is a Turkic language so there is almost no difference, it's form then same ancestors

and the Turkish people are always supporting the Uyghurs, because 1000 years ago Turkey Turks traveled from Turkestan to Anatolia

so the Turks from Turkey are originally from the region of Turkestan (info: Turkestan means land of the Turks)

exactly they traveled from Turkestan to Anatolia

so you are originally the original Turks?

yes we are basically Turkic people

some are saying that you should not have bad relation ship with the Chinese because they are such a big economic country

and that may lead to that a lot of Islamic country are careful in diplomatic ways, what is your reaction to that?

my answer is simple learn from West-Europe like freedom of speech

always giving recognition to Uyghurs

they should also send Western journalists to East-Turkestan and make video and take rapports

it's strange that not Islamic Europe does give recognition and the Islamic countries don't

the Islamic countries must have a bit courage to send journalists to see for themselves

just use your economic strength against China and try to tell them that what they are doing is not tolerable

they have to use that

recently a group Uyghur student were arrested in Egypt, what happened with them? did they get send back to China?

since May Uyghur studenten that live in the foreign countries have to come back or else their family gets arrested

Some of them came back but some did not, the ones that did not, were arrested in the countries they live in. China asked them to do that.

the students got there with a passport and a visa, so they got the permission of them but they got arrested anyway

they were not terrorist, they were nothing more than students

because in East-Turkestan there is no way for us to study Islam, if we can it's a organisation that works for the communist regime

so they come to countries like Egypt to study freely Islam and go back

they want to help the other Uyghurs to learn Islam

but China says no

the Chinese tells us to use Islam for the communism but how is that even possible?

so that's why they want to go to Islamic countries

did the scholar or the university's have objection in Egypt?

the Egypt's did really a great job with working with the Chinese

for their own good

for the money

i know a lot of Sheikhs for Egypt and Arabia, why do they keep silent about what is happening

even through we are their Muslim brother and sisters

why?

they have to take actions, they have to talk about it on Friday hutba

but they just keep it silent and do nothing about it

so I'm very disappointed

there are a lot of Uyghurs coming to Netherlands, how many are there in total, do they have any organisations?

we have a association here in, there are around 500/2000 Uyghurs living here in The Netherlands

what can the Muslims here in Netherlands mean for the brothers there in East-Turkestan?

if the brothers and sisters have the change they should visit East-Turkestan

and look at the Muslims lives

and write books and articles, and following what is happening there to Uyghurs

talk about it in public, Friday Khutbas etc.

and make contact with Uyghurs organisations, it does not matter which Uyghur organisation