“For me today, there is only one dream, either it’s independence or death,” s

ays Mirqedir Mirzat (32). A Uyghur from East Turkistan (called Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China) now living in France, he began fighting for Uyghur rights when his mother was taken to a re-education camp. “When my mother was locked up… that day changed me – my vision of life.” He joined the French Uyghur’s Association in 2019 as vice-president and was also elected as the deputy prime minister for the East Turkistan Government in Exile. Mirzat has not returned since 2015 and though he misses his parents, “if one day I go back to China, it means I accept their colonization of my country. I will not accept that.” He says what brings him joy is “my family. They are here, fortunately, in a country that respects human rights, a country of freedom.” He says of his homeland “What leaks out is just 1% of the truth so we can’t imagine what’s going on… our hearts can’t bear it anymore.” Full Story