Report from @CNN about the consequences of #China's years-long campaign to persecute the #Uyghurs in #Xinjiang. Parents who fled abroad are separated from their children back in #Xinjiang and many of these children are now placed in state-run orphanages. edition.cnn.com/2021/03/18/chi…
It is part of @amnesty's new report that documents the impact of #China's policies in #Xinjiang on #Uyghur families. Like @MamutjanAB, many of the children are banned from being reunited with their parents abroad.
"This week, a CNN team tracked down Mamutjan's 10-year-old daughter Muhlise at her paternal grandparents' home in the city of Kashgar, in southern Xinjiang.
When asked if she has a message for her father, whom she hasn't spoken to since 2017, Muhlise began to cry. "I miss him."
When asked if she has a message for her father, whom she hasn't spoken to since 2017, Muhlise began to cry. "I miss him."
When Mamutjan watched the video from his home in Adelaide, he struggled to fight back his tears. "I can't believe how tall (my daughter) is now ... What kind of country does this to innocent people?" he said.
"With Mamutjan's permission, CNN journalists visited his parents' house in Kashgar unannounced to see if they could help locate his children -- and find out what happened to his wife.
His daughter Muhlise answered the door in a bright pink shirt and black pants. When showed a picture of Mamutjan, she said: "This is my Dad." She said she knew where her father was but seemed unwilling to talk about her mother's location.
After checking the answer with her grandparents, Muhlise said her mother was at her other grandmother's house but she "can't see her very often." The 10-year-old said she last saw her mother "a month or two ago." She said her brother was not with her but she saw him regularly."
When Muhlise was asked if she wanted to be reunited with her father, she said, "We can't go ... Our passports were confiscated." After keeping her composure throughout the arrival of the CNN team, Muhlise began to break down when asked if she missed her father.
"I don't have my mom here, and I don't have my dad here either ... I want to be reunited with them," she said. Hearing the question, her grandmother burst into tears.
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