The resettlement of the three Uyghurs in the US was the result of continuing pressure from three US administrations, culminating in Ms. Mamut stepping onto the tarmac at a military base in San Antonio, Texas, and embracing her son after a generation apart. She later met her grandchildren for the first time at a joyous Thanksgiving family dinner.
“Waking up in America and seeing my family, especially my grandchildren, is nothing short of a dream come true,” she said.
“I am overjoyed to be reunited with my mother here in Washington.”
The family had endured repression of their religion for over half a century in China. Nury Turkel, now 54, was born in a reeducation camp in Kashgar in the desert region of Xinjiang during China’s Cultural Revolution. Arriving in America as a graduate student in 1995, he was granted asylum and was visited by his parents from time to time. But in 2009, the visits stopped.
Turkel had, by then, become an outspoken advocate for Uyghur human rights. Chinese police consequently refused to give his parents their passports, barring them from travel because of their son’s activism.
“It’s amazing to me that she was able to keep it together all those years,” Turkel said of his mother. “Her ability to endure, to not lose sight, to manage her disappointment is something that personally I can’t do as a free person.”
Turkel’s father died in 2022, before he could ever meet his grandchildren, and the Chinese government barred Turkel from even attending the funeral. Nevertheless, as Turkel put it, “I feel his presence guiding us, his strength and hope lighting the way to this moment.”
Nury Turkel’s former USCIRF colleagues shared his joy and relief. USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck said in a statement, “We celebrate the reunion of Ayshem Mamut with former USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel and the rest of their family here in the United States. USCIRF commends the Biden administration for its work to advocate for and secure the release and freedom of those persecuted in China on the basis of religion.”
USCIRF Vice Chair Eric Ueland added a sobering reminder: “Despite this good news, millions of other religious minorities in China face horrible conditions both in and out of state custody. The United States must pursue additional efforts to free more people as it did with these three Uyghur individuals.”
Ms. Mamut spent her last day in China seeing a dentist, saying goodbye at her husband’s grave and packing a bag with traditional Uyghur silk cloth that she could use to make clothes for her American grandchildren.
When the chartered US government plane took off from Beijing, the three Uyghurs aboard burst into tears. When the plane touched down in Anchorage, Alaska, to refuel, Ms. Mamut left a voicemail for her son: “We are in America.”
In a social media post, including photos of himself and his younger brother, Mamutjan, with their mother, Nury Turkel wrote, “Our prayers have been answered. I am overjoyed to be reunited with my mother here in Washington. Most importantly, she can finally embrace her grandchildren for the first time. Celebrating Thanksgiving together brings indescribable joy, gratitude and a sense of normalcy. It bridges a gap that has weighed on my heart for two decades. America has given me everything—my freedom, my livelihood and now the joy of seeing my children play with their grandmother. God bless America!”
