Uyghur mental suffering discussed at German psychiatric conference in Berlin

The annual general conference of the German Society for Psychotherapy and Psychology kicked off on November 27 in Berlin, the capital of Germany. The conference, which will last until November 30, invited the former president, Mr. Dolkun Isa, to participate and give a speech on the topic of “Cross-border repression and its impact on Uyghurs in the diaspora.” In his speech, he made the following remarks: “The Chinese regime’s oppressive measures against the Uyghurs have not been limited to China’s borders. “China’s repression campaign is being carried out across borders as a strategy of surveillance, harassment, threats, pressure, and holding families hostage in East Turkistan, creating fear and danger for the Uyghurs in the diaspora.”
In his speech titled “Cross-border Persecution and Its Impact on the Uyghur Diaspora,” Mr. Dolkun Isa comprehensively explained the psychological suffering of the Uyghur diaspora at this international conference attended by more than 9,000 doctors, psychologists, politicians, sociologists, and human rights activists.
In an interview with Radio Free Asia on November 29, he stated that China’s genocidal crimes have seriously affected the mental health of the Uyghurs in the diaspora.
In his speech, Mr. Dolkun Isa expressed the suffering of the Uyghurs abroad through the tragedies that befell him and his family, and expressed this through the survey report prepared by the World Uyghur Congress on the psychological pressures faced by Uyghur women recently, and he also briefly touched on this matter..
In his speech, he described the suffering of the Uyghurs who are victims of the ongoing genocide in East Turkestan, as well as the destruction, psychological pressures and various fears faced by the Uyghurs abroad who live under the protection of the Uyghur faith and culture. Our culture encourages us to keep our hopes high. Our relationships provide opportunities to share our pain. This is like a cure for our wounds.
Mr. Thomas Schulz, Professor of Psychiatry at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Johns Hopkins University in the United States, and Syracuse Medical University in New York, spoke to us about the psychological suffering of the Uyghurs.
“I have been involved with the Uyghur diaspora in America and Europe for several years. When I visited East Turkestan in 1990, I saw amazing cultures, beautiful cities and villages, and very noble and open-minded people at the intersection of the Silk Road north of the Teklemakan Desert. But over the past ten years, I have witnessed the Chinese persecution of the Uyghurs. As a result, I naturally began to meet the Uyghurs in the diaspora, to understand their suffering, to learn about their suffering, and to learn about their past. Not only that, I started a project with other researchers and experts in neuroscience, psychology, and mental health. The goal of our project was to investigate and find a cure for the serious mental suffering caused by the brutal violence of China against the Uyghurs. We have just started our work and have realized how deep the wounds the Chinese regime has inflicted on the spiritual world of the Uyghurs.
Mr. Thomas Schulze has a lot of information about the genocide that the Uyghurs are facing and the painful life that the Uyghurs are living in the diaspora, and he knows very well that the Uyghurs are being forcibly separated from their language, culture, customs, and monuments, and the national identity is about to disappear.
At the end of his speech, Mr. Dolkun Isa stressed that it is very important to present the oppression practiced by China across the borders and the psychological pressure it causes to Uyghurs living abroad in such a conference where psychologists, experts, and specialists gather.