Uyghur kids recall physical and mental torment at Chinese boarding schools in Xinjiang

February 03, 2022

NPR Emily Feng

Before leaving China in December 2019, the Kuçars made one last stop. It was to see the children’s mother, Meryem Aimati. Kuçar learned she had been sentenced to a 20-year prison term in her hometown of Kucha, but Chinese authorities arranged for her to be transported to a nearby hospital for a last visit with her family.

“She was thin to the bone and had lost all her hair,” he remembers. “I grabbed her skeletal hand and saw the dark scars the handcuffs had left on her wrists.”

After 15 minutes, Kuçar was told his visit was over. Despite prohibitions on touching her or even crying, he says, he wrapped Aimati in a bear hug, lifting her off the bed. When he set her down, he noticed she was too weak to stand.