80% Uyghurs under threat

Researchers say China is trying to gather information about the activities of human rights volunteers abroad by threatening Uyghurs living abroad with the families they left behind. Uyghur refugees and volunteers told the BBC that such threat tactics have led to deep divisions that divide society.
According to the BBC, based on witness statements and told with different examples,
"Dear son, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to see you until I die," says Alim's mother as soon as she appears on the screen.
The scholar—not his real name—says the meeting confused him.
This video-linked interview is Alim's first proper conversation with his mother since fleeing his country six years ago and applying for asylum in the UK.
But his excitement is also mixed with bitterness because the interview is held under the supervision of someone else. Like all members of the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority living in northwest China, Alim's mother lives under surveillance and control. They've never been able to call each other directly.
Previously, a mediator had video-called Alim on one phone and his mother on another phone, and then held the phones face-to-face to let them talk. But in this way, they could only see each other's shadows and hear a muffled voice, and they would often cry to each other during the interview.
Alim says he met with his mother, knowing there would be a cost because the person who arranged the meeting was a Chinese police officer.
Two women, a man, and a security guard in front of a barbed wire entrance
Uyghurs in China live under strict control, and over one million Uyghurs are allegedly held in concentration camps (Photo from 2019).
The police, who conducted the meeting, later called him this time and asked Alim to attend the meetings of Uyghur human rights groups in England, gather information and transmit it.
"Every time there's a demonstration in London to protest China, they call and ask who's attending," says Alim, who shared with the BBC recordings of the phone calls demanding he act as an agent.
Alim was also offered money to befriend the leaders of human rights groups related to China, most of whom are British citizens, to take them to dinner, to pay the bill.
The police are also proposing to set up a front company so that he can do this without arousing suspicion. It is also said to Alim that many front companies have been created for this purpose in the name of many people.
The implicit threat that his family will be harmed if he refuses leaves Alim in an impasse.
“CROSS-BORDER PRINTING”
Research shows that the tactics used by governments to keep opposition activities under control and surveillance abroad are known as “cross-border repression”. He states that he points out that it is being used by the Chinese police. Dr David Tobin from the University of Sheffield in the UK, along with his colleague Nyrola Elima, has conducted one of the most comprehensive studies on this subject, interviewing more than 200 Uyghur refugees in various countries and concluding that all Uyghurs living outside of China are subject to cross-border oppression.

The police, who conducted the meeting, later called him this time and asked Alim to attend the meetings of Uyghur human rights groups in England, gather information and transmit it.
"Every time there's a demonstration in London to protest China, they call and ask who's attending," says Alim, who shared with the BBC recordings of the phone calls demanding he act as an agent.
Alim was also offered money to befriend the leaders of human rights groups related to China, most of whom are British citizens, to take them to dinner, to pay the bill.
The police are also proposing to set up a front company so that he can do this without arousing suspicion. It is also said to Alim that many front companies have been created for this purpose in the name of many people.
The implicit threat that his family will be harmed if he refuses leaves Alim in an impasse.
“CROSS-BORDER PRINTING”
Research shows that the tactics used by governments to keep opposition activities under control and surveillance abroad are known as “cross-border repression”. He states that he points out that it is being used by the Chinese police. Dr David Tobin from the University of Sheffield in the UK, along with his colleague Nyrola Elima, has conducted one of the most comprehensive studies on this subject, interviewing more than 200 Uyghur refugees in various countries and concluding that all Uyghurs living outside of China are subject to cross-border oppression. .