{"applied_filters":{"end_date":"","lang":"","language":"","network":"","page":1,"per_page":20,"search":"","source":"rfa_english_rss","start_date":"","topic":"Uyghur","type":""},"available_filters":{"language_choices":[{"label":"Choose Language","value":""},{"label":"English","value":"English"}],"network_choices":[{"label":"All networks","value":""},{"label":"RFA","value":"RFA"}],"source_choices":[{"label":"All sources","value":""},{"label":"RFA English RSS","value":"rfa_english_rss"}],"sources":["rfa_english_rss"],"topics":["China","Korea","Laos","Myanmar","Pacific","South China Sea","Tibet","Uyghur"],"types":[["","All types"],["article","Articles"],["media","Media"]]},"has_next":false,"has_prev":false,"items":[{"article_body_paragraphs":[],"audio_source_url":null,"author":"Tahir Izgil for RFA Uyghur","available_dubs":[],"downloadable_assets":["https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/7UTVKCQ77JA3TK66HZ6HQPMBH4.jpg?auth=83bca706fe8e4f33c127affe1a6023442324d3c9cde38166eeabc75e6643f6b4&smart=true&width=1500"],"duration_display":"0:00","duration_seconds":null,"embed_url":null,"id":83,"image_caption":"Uyghur sisters Gulzeper Hekim, left, Gulmire Kamil, second left, and Guljennet Kamil, right, and their mother Bahargul Tohti were arrested in Urumqi on July 4 and July 11, 2026, in an undated combination of family photos.","image_url":"https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/7UTVKCQ77JA3TK66HZ6HQPMBH4.jpg?auth=83bca706fe8e4f33c127affe1a6023442324d3c9cde38166eeabc75e6643f6b4&smart=true&width=1500","is_clip":false,"item_type":"article","item_type_label":"Article","language_label":"English","media_credit":"Tahir Izgil for RFA Uyghur","micro_label":"Photo","micro_label_kind":"gallery","network_label":"RFA","network_logo_url":"/static/uploads/direct_network_logos/rfa_ca00144ac549.png","published_at":"2026-07-17T03:58:30","published_at_display":"17 Jul 2026, 03:58 GMT","sequence_badge_label":null,"sequence_count":null,"sequence_count_label":null,"sequence_frames":[],"sequence_kind":null,"source_name":"rfa_english_rss","source_name_label":"RFA English RSS","source_type":"rss","summary":"Read RFA coverage of this story in Uyghur Chinese authorities in Xinjiang\u2019s regional capital Urumqi on July 4 arrested two Uyghur sisters and their mother for sending goods to their eldest sister in Turkey, and a third sister was arrested a week later, the eldest told Radio Free Asia. Guzelnur Kamil said her family had been shipping ordinary household goods, including clothing, footwear, hats, daily necessities, seasonings, and packaged food items to support her business in Turkey. \u201cThey were simply miscellaneous everyday items,\u201d she told RFA. \u201cMy mother said, \u2018Even if we cannot send you cash, let us send you goods so you can do business, my child, and provide for your children,\u2019\u201d she said. Guzelnur, who moved to Turkey in 2016, said the shipments were assembled by her sister, Guljennet Kamil, who from 2018-2020 was detained in an internment camp . Guljennet also suffers from partial paralysis following an accident and was helped by her sister with a share of the profits from her business. However, according to Guzelnur, the police used this communication as a pretext to target the family. Investigation Guzelnur said the police interrogation of her family began on July 1, and explained that her mother, Bahargul Tohti, along with her sisters Guljennet and Gulzeper Hekim, were interrogated several times. Police used Guljennet\u2019s shipping of goods to Turkey as a pretext, alleging suspicion of \u201csupporting terrorists,\u201d she said, adding that her mother and sisters were ordered to lead police to the exact shops where they purchased the goods and the logistics companies they used to ship them. \u201cOn the 4th, they spoke very politely, asking my mother to come to the police station at 9:00 AM,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter taking her in, they also brought in my sisters. They took their blood samples and photographed them from the front, back, and sides. After that, they just took them away without saying a word.\u201d Turkey is one of 26 countries that China considers \u201csensitive,\u201d along with primarily Muslim-majority nations such as Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kazakhstan according to Human Rights Watch . Under China\u2019s \u201c Strike Hard Campaign ,\u201d those who have been to these countries, have families, or otherwise communicate with people there, have been questioned, detained, and even imprisoned. Guzelnur said her family in Urumqi has not sent her any goods for more than a year. Instead, she has been importing merchandise from Central Asian countries. The shipments from her family had already ceased long before her family was arrested by police. \u201cWe have documentation for everything\u2014from where it was shipped, and even who received the goods,\u201d Guzelnur said. \u201cWe provided those files, and my mother and sisters provided everything to the police. Yet the police still told them, \u2018We will investigate you; there are also things going on over there in Turkey.\u2019 What things could be going on here? We have nothing going on here. We can even present clean records from here.\u201d According to Guzelnur, her mother and sisters were taken to the Nanjiao Police Station in Urumqi. \u201cOne is an orphan girl, one is my mother, and one is my disabled sister... What am I supposed to do now?!\u201d she told RFA, referring to her adopted sister Gulzeper. RFA confirmed that Guljennet was moved from the police station and is currently being held at the Tianshan District Detention Center. Ethnic unity law The arrests came just days after China\u2019s new ethnic unity law went into effect. On July 10, Norway-based Uyghur activist Abduweli Ayup posted on X , \u201cThree Uyghurs detained in Urumqi. The National Security police didn\u2019t tell the reasons, they put them in detention on July 4th. They are the first target we learned after China enacted the ethnic unity promotion law.\u201d Critics of China\u2019s ethnic unity law warn that the law brings accelerated forced assimilation and cultural erasure of Uyghurs and Tibetans . It also raises fears of Beijing\u2019s increasing transnational repression and its ability to stifle dissident voices overseas. Guzelnur told RFA that her third sister, Gulmire Kamil, who remained at home after her mother and two sisters were arrested on July 4, was arrested by police a week later. Gulmire previously served 10 years in prison for her connection with the July 5, 2009 unrest in Urumqi. Translated by Tahir Izgil. Edited by Charlie Dharapak and Eugene Whong.","title":"Chinese police arrest Uyghur sisters and mother in Urumqi for sending goods to Turkey","topic":"Uyghur","translation_language":"","url":"https://rfa.org/english/uyghur/2026/07/17/urumqi-xinjiang-china-police-turkey-arrest-mother-sisters/","video_url":null}],"next_num":null,"page":1,"pages":1,"per_page":20,"prev_num":null,"total":1}