Their Uighur wives vanished in 2017, swept up in a Chinese dragnet tackling Islamic extremism, and now they have been released — but the Pakistani husbands left behind say freedom has come at a price: The women must prove their “adaptability to Chinese society” and publicly sacrifice their religious ideals.
The group of about 40 women — all from China’s Xinjiang region and married to traders from Pakistan — were among about 1 million people believed to be held in a network of internment camps that authorities downplay as “vocational education centers.”
However, the men said that their partners were forced into acts that are haram, or forbidden, to followers of Islam — both in the camps and now that they have been freed.
“She said they had to eat pork and drink alcohol, something she still has to do,” one merchant, who recently visited his wife at her parents’ house in Xinjiang, said on condition of anonymity.
“She was told that she had to satisfy the authorities that she no longer possesses radical thoughts if she does not want to go back,” he said, adding that she had given up praying and the Koran had been replaced by books on China at his in-laws’ home.
Some of the traders, who traditionally leave their wives in Xinjiang for weeks or months at a time when they return home to conduct business, believe that the women were taken to the camps because of their connection to Pakistan, which is a Muslim republic.
Former detainees have said that they were held simply for following Muslim traditions, such as having a long beard or wearing a veil.
However, with the detention centers facing growing international condemnation and China pushing its economic relationship with Pakistan, authorities two months ago began slowly releasing the women.
Faiz Ullah Faraq, a spokesman for the Gilgit-Baltistan government, the Pakistani region that borders Xinjiang, confirmed that the “majority” have been released.
Reporters interviewed nine of the women’s husbands, who confirmed that their wives are free, but cannot leave Xinjiang for three months, during which time they would be closely monitored.
“They will observe her adaptability to Chinese society and if they deem her to be unfit she will be sent back,” a gemstone trader said of the rules of release.
Their initial joy at the release of their wives and mothers has faded because the women who have returned are like strangers.
“My wife said she was forced to dance, wear revealing clothes, eat pork and drink alcohol in the camp,” he said, adding that she now carries with her a book of guidelines, which features illustrations such as a mosque marked with a red cross and a Chinese flag with a green tick.
“She used to pray regularly, but now it’s gone and she has started occasionally drinking [alcohol], which she does in the restaurants,” he said, adding that he believed officials required such acts from the women.
He also declined to give his name for fear of repercussions from authorities, who make surprise visits to his wife’s home in Xinjiang every week.
James Leibold, an expert on Chinese security at Australia’s La Trobe University, told reporters that stepped-up surveillance policies in Xinjiang have given authorities “increased confidence” in their ability to closely monitor those released from the camps.
Since their release, the families of many of the women said that they have become paranoid and fear being reported on.
“The worst thing was her silence,” the merchant said. “She suspects everyone, her parents, her family, even me.”
The seven other traders interviewed anonymously have been in contact with their wives only by telephone and gave similar testimonies.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the releases, and a Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman did not respond to requests.
Human Rights Watch senior China researcher Maya Wang (王松蓮) said that the group has heard stories of people being released from the camps and subjected to house arrests or severe restrictions on movement.
“These releases may indicate that the Chinese government is increasingly sensitive to heightening international pressure over its serious abuses in Xinjiang,” she said.
Last month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo renewed demands that China end its widespread detention of Uighur Muslims as he met with Mihrigul Tursun, who claims to be a former detainee, and has spoken publicly about what she said was widespread torture in the camps.
Beijing “cannot afford international criticism of its policies in Xinjiang to spread throughout the Muslim world, especially in Pakistan,” Leibold said.
China has strongly pushed its relationship with Pakistan, investing heavily in infrastructure projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Pakistan has been reluctant to publicly join global condemnation of Beijing’s crackdown on Muslims in Xinjiang.
However, for the merchant and the other traders, it is as though their wives are still lost.
“My wife, a practicing Muslim, has been turned into someone I could not even imagine. She has given up her prayers, drinks and eats pork,” the merchant said. “I am afraid our marriage will not last long because she is a completely different person, someone who I don’t know.”
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