How I Survived A Chinese 'Re-education' Camp

Gulbahar Haitiwaji worked as a petroleum  engineer in Xinjiang, China, before she left with her two daughters, to join her husband Kerim, who had sought asylum in France. She was tricked into returning to China, and vanished into its camps. Rozenn Morgat is a journalist with Le Figaro. She helped Gulbahar to tell her story, in the hope of alerting the world to what is happening to the Uyghurs.

'Gulbahar's memoir is an indispensable account, which makes vivid the stench of fearful sweat in the cells, the newly built prison's permanent reek of white pain. It closely corresponds with other witness statements. Most impressive is her psychological honesty' – Sunday Times 'Huge efforts have been made to obfuscate the realities of life in the camps (even speaking openly in Xinjiang about them can lead to incarceration). Although their existence has been well documented abroad and grudgingly admitted by the Chinese state, relatively few first-hand accounts of what actually goes on inside them have emerged. One is Gulbahar Haitiwaji's moving and devastating How I Survived a Chinese 'Re-education' Camp.' – Roderic Wye, Literary Review 'An intimate, highly sensory self-portrait, created with the help of Rozenn Morgat (a journalist with Le Figaro), of an educated woman passing through a system that appears at turns cruel, paranoid, capricious and devastatingly effective.' – Sunday Telegraph (Five Stars)

• Preface. Rozen Morgan, Le Figaro journalist and co-author, introduces the story of Gulbahar Haitiwaji, a Uyghur woman who was tricked into returning to China and imprisoned in its ethnic 're-education' camps. The introduction contains an overview of the persecution of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang Table of Contents. Lists the chapters for this first-hand account by a survivor of China's prison camps, amid the Chinese Communist Party's apparent genocide of members of the Uyghur minority people in the Xinjiang province, in north-west China 1. A Family Wedding. The boisterous Uyghur wedding of Gulbahar's daughter, Gulhumur, sets the scene on the happy days enjoyed by the Haitiwaji family in exile in France. Gulbahar explains her family's history and story in their homeland of Xinjiang, while outlining the persecution of the Uyghurs 2. China Calling. A representative at Gulbahar's former employer asks her to return to China to sign some pension papers. By then Gulbahar had joined her engineer husband Kerim in France. Despite rising persecution of Uyghurs, Gulbahar has returned to Xinjiang several times without incident 3. A Police Interview. When she arrives back in Xinjiang, Gulbahar is questioned and then arrested and grilled by police about whether she supports Uyghur independence, whether she has any links to the World Uyghur Congress, and her daughter's appearance at a Uyghur protest rally in Paris 4. Communist Party Glories. Gulbahar, a Uyghur woman who has committed no crime other than being a Uyghur (Uighur) in Xinjiang, is taken to a prison camp where she is taught to celebrate the glories of the Chinese Communist Party. In the cell, the Uyghur language is banned. Only Mandarin is allowed. 5. Shackled to a Bed. In Cell 202 in a Xinjiang detention centre, Gulbahar discovers the harsh lessons meted out to Uyghur prisoners in the Chinese Communist Party's 're-education' gulag. Xinjiang is earmarked for a key road in Xi Jinping's 'Belt & Road' initiative, also known as China's New Silk Roads 6. Inside Cell 202. Unshackled, Gulbahar is given her original clothes and told she will be leaving for a 'school' where she will be formally 're-educated' out of Uyghur culture and shown a new more fulfilling life as a humble and devoted servant of the Chinese Communist Party 7. ‘School’ with Xi Jinping. At her new 'school' in Baijiantan, Xinjiang, Gulbahar monotonously recites patriotic songs and slogans aimed at ensuring Uyghurs obey the Chinese Communist Party. Mentions Tiananmen Square, communist indoctrination, Chinese patriotic songs 8. Nadira Vanishes. All of a sudden, Gulbahar's cell-mate Nadira, a fellow Uyghur woman, goes missing: no-one knows what has happened to her. At night, Gulbuhar hears the screams of other inmates held in the 'reeducation' facility – Muslim persecution in Xinjiang, Uighur re-education camp, Xi Jinping 9. A Reunion with Hope. Gulbahar is reunited with her two sisters, during a brief visit to the re-education facility at Baijiantan. She asks for news of Kerim, Gulhumur and Gulnigar in France. Mentions Uyghur guards, Uighur genocide, Uighur humans rights abuses, Ürümqi 10. ‘Re-education’ is Working. The endless repetition of songs and slogans starts to erode Gulbahar's soul, diminishing her ability to keep hold of their own feelings and mental stability. Gulbahar is proud of her Uyghur culture, but her own personality and culture are slowing slipping away 11. Losing Body and Mind. After a year's detention, Gulbahar's health starts to deteriorate along with her mental health. The camp's medical staff inject her with "a vaccination" which stops the periods of younger Uyghur women inmates. China has been accused of forcibly sterilising Uyghur women 12. World Discovers the Camps. The 'relentless clockwork of brainwashing' at the re-education camp finally succeeds in demoralising Gulbahar, as China's campaign against Uyghurs is stepped up with authorities collecting DNA, fingerprints, retinal scans, and blood types of millions of citizens 13. France Discovers Gulbahar. The plight of the Uyghurs becomes better known around the world. Meanwhile France's foreign ministry becomes 'aware' of Gulbahar's fate and starts to negotiate with the Chinese authorities for her release. Mentions Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch 14. Moved to a Bigger Camp. Amid protests and diplomacy from France, Gulbahar - 'Number 9' - is moved to an even bigger camp in Xinjiang, where she is told she is about to face her trial. Mentions Uyghur protest in Paris, Uyghur trial, Uighur persecution, Uyghur prison warders 15. ‘No 9. Your Turn!’. Gulbahar is tried in a Kafkaesque hearing at her prison camp, with a cameraman filming the proceedings for the Chinese Communist Party. She is sentenced for seven years imprisonment, seemingly for nothing other than the crime of being a Uyghur woman in Xinjiang province. 16. Where is Gulbahar? Gulbahar's daughter Gulhumar is interviewed on France 24 about her mother's fate, drawing the French public's attention to her incarceration in China. Meanwhile, the Xinjiang Victims Database, maintained by people of the diaspora, reveals the sheer number of Uyghurs sucked into China's gulag 17. Letting Myself Die. After more than a year in detention and facing a meaningless birthday incarcerated in China's desert prisons for Uyghurs, Gulbahar decides to let herself die. Then she realises, amid the interrogations, that the Chinese do not have enough evidence to keep her locked up 18. Battles With Tasqin. Gulbahar undergoes interrogation by a policeman called Tasqin. Relentlessly, he tries to get Gulbahar to confess her 'crimes'. Mentions Karamay, Uighur diaspora, Chinese jails, Uighur re-education, Rebiya Kadeer, Uyghur leader, Uyghur terrorism 19. Freedom? Still locked up in the prison in Xinjiang, Gulbahar is – amazingly – told she can go free by Tasqin. She is unaware of the diplomatic pressure the French government is exerting on China with the aim of securing her release. Mentions Uyghur minority, Uighurs imprisoned, Uyghur imprisonment 20. Fruit and Mint Tea. Freed from the re-education camp system where she has been kept by the Chinese authorities for the past two years, Gulbahar is transferred to an apartment block in Karamay, Xinjiang. There she is guarded by eleven Chinese police officers. Her police guards encourage her to eat. 21. Phoning Home. Under house arrest, Gulbahar is allowed to phone home to her family in France, whose diplomats have been urging China to allow her to return to her family. Some of Gulbahar's guards are Uyghurs. Don't they realise that the Chinese want to wipe the Uyghurs off the face of the earth? 22. Monitored All Day. The Chinese secret police encourage Gulbahar to bulk up her camp-ravaged body by eating. She is told that she cannot skip meals. She is also told to urge her family to remove all negative mentions of China's mistreatment of the Uyghurs from social media posts 23. Back in Karamay. Accompanied by her secret police minders, Gulbahar is taken to a shopping mall where she is allowed to purchase new clothes to improve her appearance. Mentions Uyghur city, Kashgar, Tian Shan mountains, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Silk Road, Taklamakan Desert, Sinicisation 24. Cooking for the Secret Police. As she continues her bizarre apartment life, Gulbahar feeds her secret police monitors. After two years in the re-education camps, she begins to rediscover the momentum of ordinary life, as a free Uyghur. She dreams that one day she will be reunited with her family 25. The Truth is Voiceless. Gulbahar muses how Uyghurs in Xinjiang are forbidden from telling their story. They must remain mute to the outside world while they undergo the most vicious persecution by the Hans Chinese authorities. Gulbahar is allowed to meet her sisters and mother 26. Closing My File. When she returns to the apartment in Karamay, in the swelling heat of a Xinjiang summer, her house arrest is lifted and she is moved to a hotel room. At a short hearing, a judge overturns the seven-year prison sentence she received earlier and pronounces that she is innocent 27. Landing. On 21st August 2019, after more than two years lost in China's re-education camp system, Gulbahar Haitiwaji flies home to her family in France. Mentions French foreign policy, Uyghur internment, Uighurs interned in Xinjiang, Uyghur minority, Uyghur genocide biography, Amnesty Afterword by Rozenn Morgat. Gulbahar is still haunted by her experiences as a persecuted Uyghur, Morgat writes. 'Poor sleep from short, restless nights keeps her in a state of constant, nagging fatigue. Her vision has also deteriorated badly and she has violent headaches Acknowledgements. Rozenn Morgan thanks the many people who made it possible to tell Gulbahar's extraordinary story. Mentions Editions des Equateurs, Jeanne Pham Tran, Gulhumar Haitiwaji