An Irish woman has said she fears Chinese officials have threatened her family because she speaks out about Beijing’s repression of its Uyghur minority.
Nuria Zyden came to Ireland in 2009, became a naturalised Irish citizen and has three children who were born in the Republic.
A Uyghur, she grew up in Xinjiang, a majority Muslim province where locals are regarded with extreme suspicion by the Chinese Government.
“As a Uyghur person, growing up we were seen as politically disloyal and culturally disadvantaged,” Ms Zyden told Newstalk Breakfast.
“The State media frequently portrayed Uyghurs as extremists and discrimination in jobs and education left us with limited opportunities.
“After 9/11, the Chinese Government rebranded its repressions as a war on terror, using it as a pretext to expand mass surveillance.”
Economic relationships with China should NOT come before human rights 🪧
Irish Uyghurs demonstrated outside the @mfa_china meeting with Taoiseach @MichealMartinTD and Tánaiste @SimonHarrisTD, asking the Irish gov to raise the human rights abuses suffered by the Uyghur community. pic.twitter.com/VLLEzQDKL6
— Irish Uyghur Cultural Association (@IrishUyghur) February 17, 2025
Determined to keep her culture alive and speak out against Beijing’s oppression of her people, she helped found the Irish Uyghur Culture Association in 2014.
Like many Uyghurs living outside of China, she soon found that her advocacy had not gone unnoticed by Chinese officials.
“My activism has become a target [with] phone calls from the Chinese Government and all different types of harassment,” she said.
Most disturbingly, she feels they are blackmailing her elderly mother.
“My gentle, 74-year-old mother told me to not come home,” Ms Zyden said.
“When I last spoke with her a couple of weeks ago, she was saying she was in a hospital bed.
“I don’t know what is really happening to her but I guess she has been questioned and probably she was in detention.
“I’m not really sure; she begged me, do not forget about the Chinese Communist Party raising us and wherever we go, we should appreciate [them].”
Commemoration is a vital part of building a better world - it is an active process that we commit to practicing in the face of ongoing atrocities today.
Our Director @NuriaZyden pictured below with Tomi Reichental and Oliver Sears at a Holocaust remembrance event. https://t.co/UlVHIkL61F
— Irish Uyghur Cultural Association (@IrishUyghur) April 28, 2025
In 2022, a United Nations human rights report accused China of "serious human rights violations" in Xinjiang and warned that its treatment of Uyghurs could constitute a crime against humanity.
Potentially, as many as one million Uyghurs have been sent to detention centres, which China describes as "re-education camps".
Within the camps, Uyghurs have said they have been subjected to rape, torture and forced sterilisation.
“It’s been more than a decade since I’ve left Ireland,” Ms Zyden said.
“I’m not able to speak to any of my family members freely or see my Mom.
“My three Irish-born kids have never got a chance to know them.”
A special thanks to Gulya Mametova for co-hosting this lovely gathering of Uyghur women living in Ireland on Nov 30, attended by our co-founder Nuria. Together we reflected on the vital role we, as Uyghur mothers & women, play in preserving our traditions, culture, and language💙 pic.twitter.com/oMex90b0wU
— Irish Uyghur Cultural Association (@IrishUyghur) December 1, 2024
Chinese officials have spoken to Ms Zyden about her activism and she describes their meetings as “not directly threatening, they try to be friendly.”
“They said they know everything about me, they know my phone number, my home address and also they said, if you cooperate with them, my family will be safe,” she said.
“It’s a direct, clear message.”
Sometimes Ms Zyden wonders whether her fight for Uyghur human rights is worth it and she fears many of her family have been sent to detention camps.
“I feel sometimes very guilty thinking that my freedom of speech might put my family back in danger,” she said.
“Let the Chinese Government know that the world is watching, we will not be intimidated.
“No matter how hard they try and silence us, we will not look away and we will not be silenced.”
Main image: Nuria Zyden. Image: Supplied.
