Tag: East Turkestan Islamic Movement

Freed From Guantánamo, but Still in Limbo 15 Years Later

Chin@Strategy

TIRANA, Albania — Accused by the United States military of being a terrorist in league with the Taliban, a devout Muslim man from western China spent four years imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay before being cleared and then dumped in Albania 15 years ago. Still stranded in a country he did not know existed until he was sent there, the man, Abu Bakker Qassim, 51, has a word of warning for the hundreds of Afghans who have fled their country over the past month and followed his path to one of…

Afghan Uyghurs Fear Taliban Will Deport Them to China

Chin@Strategy

Ibrahim’s parents fled political turmoil in China for Afghanistan more than 50 years ago. At that time, Mao Zedong had unleashed the Cultural Revolution, and life was upended for many Uyghurs, the mostly Muslim ethnic group in Xinjiang that included Ibrahim’s parents. Ibrahim was born in Afghanistan. But now he, too, is trying to escape the clutches of Chinese authoritarianism. He and his family have been afraid to leave their home in Afghanistan since the Taliban, the country’s new rulers, took control last month, venturing outside only to buy essentials.…