China caused a stir with the appearance of Uyghur torch bearer Dinigeer Yilamujiang at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics as the hosts face international accusations of oppression of the Muslim minority.
ARD moderator Julia Scharf spoke to human rights activist Zumretay Arkin, who fled the western Chinese province of Xinjiang.
Julia Sharp: When and how did you manage to escape and how old were you then?
Arkin: “Thank you for letting me be here. I left my country when I was ten years old. So I moved to Canada with my family. Since then, of course, I haven’t been able to go back. It was still possible between 2009 and 2011, but I haven’t seen the family since then.”
What did you experience there before that? What else do you remember?
“When we came back for the first time, we were at the Urumqi–In the face of massacres, this is the city where I was born. There were peaceful protests and they were attacked by the Chinese government.
The first thing that happened to us at the airport was that we were pulled out because of our profile. We were interrogated at the airport about the reasons why we are visiting Beijing or China. This is of course very, very bad for the Uyghurs, but since 2009 the situation has absolutely escalated and we are talking about genocide.”
You were too in a film made by Felix Neureuther. Before the games he took care of the IOC and also the fact that the games were awarded to Beijing. (…) Do you have a glimmer of hope that this coverage will still change something for the better?
“We definitely hope so. What we hope as human rights advocates is that the games focus on sport. But we also hope that there will also be enough attention to the human rights abuses that are happening. Of course it also applies to China.
But also for Tibet, China, Hong Kong – this brutal crackdown on the various ethnic groups. That the international community will use this moment to really put pressure on the Chinese government.”
Uyghur torch bearer Dinigeer Yilamujiang’s appearance at the opening ceremony. (…) How did it all come to you?
“II was very shocked when I saw that, because we also discussed it with the IOC. We met twice with the IOC and announced that China will use this to spread propaganda. That’s exactly what happened.
The IOC’s reaction was, well, these Olympics are just not political and it’s not about political things. But we still say it’s not political, it’s about human rights. It’s about genocide, it’s not a political issue, it’s about freedom.
And the fact that the Chinese are using a Uyghur athlete for the opening ceremony is absolutely politically motivated. This couldn’t have been worse. That’s what just negates all these things that are meant to happen. Everyone always says, oh yes, everything is fine.
Because look here, we have a Uyghur athlete lighting the Olympic flame and at the same time there are these camps. I personally have family members who are in these camps. And just because a Uyghur lights the flame doesn’t mean that the Uyghurs are doing well.”