uyghurs outside china offer a line to the international community. they can speak for those still in xinjiang, telling the world about its internment camps, where the un says more than a million people have been detained in the last few years. alim refused to cooperate. and we understand that the vast majority of requests made by chinese police are rejected by those in the uyghur community. sam judah, bbc news this was the response we received from the chinese embassy: accusing china of transnational repression is totally groundless. it is aimed at spreading china threat theory and smearing the country. we firmly oppose it. the chinese government protects the freedom of travel of all ethnic groups, including the uyghurs, and their communication with overseas relatives in accordance with the law.
many times we ve reported on the plight of uyghur muslims in china with hundreds of thousands subjected to mass incarceration in the north west of the country. researchers are now saying the chinese authorities are pressuring uyghurs living abroad to spy on human rights campaigners by threatening their families back home. refugees and activists say the tactic is tearing communities apart. one refugee living in the uk has been speaking to bbc newsnight s samjudah about his experience. a demonstration outside the foreign office with a dark twist. these uyghurs want the government to speak up about human rights abuses in china. but someone has been asked to infiltrate their ranks, gather intelligence, and send details to the chinese authorities. we re calling him alim and concealing his identity. he s a refugee living in the uk. it was an audio call through wechat.
when they called me, i recorded it with my other phone. alim has shared recordings of those calls. we ve adapted a few to mask key details. we paid a visit to your family in xinjiang. my colleague collected their details. if you want to see them, i can set up a video call. yes, please arrange that. i just want to talk to them and find out how they are. i won t ask about anything else. ok, no problem. i ll arrange that for you. alim was granted a very unusual video call with his mother. the officer connected them by holding two mobile phones facing each other. he used one phone to connect with my mother, and then he used another phone to contact me, allowing me to see my mother through his screen. when i saw my mother, i couldn t contain my emotions. it had been six to seven years since i last saw her, and it was an incredibly heart wrenching moment. there was a price to pay.