"Sometimes if people ask me where I’m from, it’s going to be sometimes difficult because they don’t know much about us [#Uyghurs], and because they think that #China is like a perfect place. They don’t know about the government and everything."rfa.org/english/news/u…
"Uyghur children, born and raised in the diaspora, are asking their parents why they can’t see their grandparents, why Uyghurs in Xinjiang face genocide, and why they can’t visit their homeland."
"Uyghur adults living abroad, frustrated by the inability to stop the atrocities despite widespread and credible reports about right abuses those living in Xinjiang face, say they are unsure about how to discuss the genocide with their children and ...
... sometimes falter when asked why it is happening."
"Although children’s questions may seem simple to parents, what they are actually asking is about the history of Uyghurs, Chinese politics, and how to ensure the existence of Uyghurs abroad, said Suriyye Kashgary, co-founder of Ana Care, ...
... a Uyghur language school in northern Virginia with about 100 students ranging in age from five to 15 years old."
“They always ask questions like “Why isn’t my grandma here? Why isn’t my grandpa here? Where are my relatives? My grandpa isn’t around. My grandma isn’t around. Where are my relatives?” she said
“What I’ve been able to learn is that [many of] the children are a bit confused because some parents answer their kids’ questions, while some parents don’t speak with them in much detail at all,” she said.
While some Uyghur parents do not disclose information to their children about the genocide, others do talk about it and take them to local demonstrations against China’s repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
“There are many disagreements over whether it’s OK to explain some things to the children or not,” Kashgary said. “Some people argue that we shouldn’t let [the genocide] negatively impact their psyches, ...
... that children shouldn’t be sad about these things, and that they shouldn’t live under such stress from a young age.”
"Zubayra Shamseden, four of whose family members were killed or tortured by the Chinese government as part of the Ghulja Massacre in 1997, and who has relatives currently being held in internment camps in Xinjiang, ...
... works as China’s outreach coordinator for the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project and as a Uyghur human rights activist."
“When it comes to the Uyghur genocide, it’s a fact that it is tearing up and impacting the lives of Uyghurs on the outside in the diaspora as well,” she said. “It’s not just adults — the shadows of the Uyghur genocide are affecting children and teenagers.”
"Shamseden says that Uyghurs in the diaspora are dealing with a kind of emotional genocide and that trying to hide the genocide from the children will not solve the issue."
“It is likely only those parents who are unable to accept [the genocide] psychologically or deal with it properly themselves who worry that letting their children know about it may place undue psychological pressure on them,” she said.
"Shamseden’s children, who were born and raised outside Xinjiang, also have become activists, participating in events protesting the Chinese government’s crackdown on Uyghurs."
“Parents have a responsibility to show children the way, lead them down [the right] paths, take them to proper activities,” she said.
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