Uyghurs in London: 'I've spoken to my mum after nine years'

Aziz Isa Elkun, from North London, spent seven years without knowing if his mother was still alive. One day last April, he suddenly received an anonymous video call from his mother, which he claims was monitored by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Aziz, 54, said that his mother, Hepizikhan, a Uyghur Muslim, was sent to a "re-education camp" in Xinjiang, China, in 2018 and has since been released. China has been accused of detaining more than one million Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang since 2016, but the Chinese government calls these places "vocational skills education and training centers" and denies all allegations of abuse.

Aziz is appealing to the British government to allow his 82-year-old mother to come to the UK so that he can care for her. He said that this was the first time they had spoken since 2017 and that his mother was "crying a lot and very grateful to be able to talk to me." He believes the call was being monitored by Chinese police, so they had to speak carefully. Since April 2024, he has spoken to his mother four times, most recently in January 2025. He believes Chinese police have been listening in on these calls.

Aziz said: "Every day I feel frustrated because I can't talk to my mother properly. I don't know how to express my feelings." The BBC interviewed Aziz five years ago, when he said he did not know if his mother was still alive. Aziz is an exiled scholar from Xinjiang who has written about and protested against the Chinese government's treatment of Uyghur Muslims. He was forced to leave Xinjiang in 1999 for his involvement in social activism and came to London in 2001. Aziz is now a British citizen and lives in London with his wife and three children.

Aziz said: "There are 20 million Uyghurs in our land, and the Chinese government is trying to eradicate and erase the connection between Uyghurs and their homeland. This has never happened in human history, and this atrocity is beyond my comprehension and ability to express." In 2022, a BBC investigation found that "re-education camps" in Xinjiang used violence and torture to force Uyghurs to renounce their Islamic faith. Dr. Joanne Smith Finley, a lecturer in Chinese Studies at Newcastle University, said: "Aziz's case is a microcosm of a larger story. What we are seeing is a campaign of what I call state terrorism. The state is using acts of terrorism, mass detention and forced labor to create an atmosphere of terror so that everyone is afraid and remains loyal to China. People have been burning their Qurans and cutting ties with relatives who may be abroad."

In 2022, a UN report stated that they had "credible evidence" accusing China of committing "crimes against humanity" and "serious human rights violations" in Xinjiang, but China denied this. Aziz is not alone. He knows many Uyghur Muslims in London whose family members are in "re-education camps." Aziz said: "Their relatives are forced to learn Chinese, study the Chinese Communist Party, and undergo militarized management. One woman even died in a 're-education camp.' There are cameras and microphones in every room, and they are monitored. Uyghurs are humiliated physically and mentally. These 're-education camps' still exist."

Aziz is appealing to the Home Office to allow him to come to the UK to care for his mother. The Home Office declined the BBC's interview request, stating: "It is long-standing government policy that we do not comment on individual cases." A spokesperson added that British citizens do not have an automatic right to bring their extended family members to the UK, but added: "They can apply under the family rules, including the adult dependent relative route." Aziz says this route will not work for him because the Chinese government will not allow his mother to have a passport. He said: "I urge the British government and ask them to give my mother a passport so that I can be reunited with her and take care of her. I don't know how much longer she will live, so I have to speak out."

Aziz says he wants to speak out for the many Uyghurs in the UK who are in the same situation as him. He said: "Many families are afraid to speak out because they feel their families will face retaliation. This is the main problem."