Man who exposed human rights abuses in China receives U.S. asylum
/ By Rachel Allen
Man who exposed human rights abuses in China receives U.S. asylum
/ By Rachel Allen
The United States has granted asylum to a Chinese national who documented human rights abuses in Xinjiang, after an immigration judge determined he has a “well founded fear” of persecution if returned to China.
In a ruling on Wednesday, the judge said Guan Heng reasonably fears retaliation from Chinese authorities if repatriated, noting that his family has already been questioned, and concluded he met the legal threshold for asylum.
The Department of Homeland Security can appeal and has 30 days to file.
Guan’s attorney, Chen Chuangchuang, called the case a “textbook example of why asylum should exist.”
He added that the US bears a “moral and legal responsibility” to approve Guan’s claim.
Guan, 38, sought asylum after entering the US illegally in 2021, but was taken into custody in August amid a mass deportation campaign by the Trump administration.
Plans to send him to Uganda were abandoned in December following public concern over his case.
In 2020, Guan Heng covertly recorded detention facilities in the north-western Chinese region, where human rights groups say more than one million ethnic Uyghurs have been held against their will.
After leaving China, he posted most of the material on YouTube, traveling first to Hong Kong, then to Ecuador and the Bahamas, before arriving in Florida.
The clips depict him moving around parts of Xinjiang and documenting locations he characterizes as “concentration camps.”
Questioned at Wednesday’s hearing about whether filming the facilities and releasing the footage days before his US arrival was intended to bolster an asylum claim, Guan said it was not.
Speaking by video link from the US correctional facility where he was held, he said he “sympathised with the Uyghurs who were persecuted.”
Several governments, including the US, UK, Canada and the Netherlands, have accused China of crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against Xinjiang’s Uyghur Muslim population.
In 2018, a UN human rights committee said it had credible reports that up to a million people were being held in “counter-extremism centres” in the region, which is largely cut off to international media and observers.
China rejects allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang and says the centres are “re-education camps” intended to prevent terrorism and root out Islamist extremism.
In 2022, police files obtained by the BBC detailed China’s use of the camps and described the routine deployment of armed officers and a shoot-to-kill policy for those attempting to escape.
Former detainees have described physical, psychological and sexual torture, and women have reported mass rape and sexual abuse.
Meanwhile, Uyghurs living in exile continue to share accounts of relatives who are frightened or have disappeared.
In a ruling on Wednesday, the judge said Guan Heng reasonably fears retaliation from Chinese authorities if repatriated, noting that his family has already been questioned, and concluded he met the legal threshold for asylum.
The Department of Homeland Security can appeal and has 30 days to file.
Guan’s attorney, Chen Chuangchuang, called the case a “textbook example of why asylum should exist.”
He added that the US bears a “moral and legal responsibility” to approve Guan’s claim.
Guan, 38, sought asylum after entering the US illegally in 2021, but was taken into custody in August amid a mass deportation campaign by the Trump administration.
Plans to send him to Uganda were abandoned in December following public concern over his case.
In 2020, Guan Heng covertly recorded detention facilities in the north-western Chinese region, where human rights groups say more than one million ethnic Uyghurs have been held against their will.
After leaving China, he posted most of the material on YouTube, traveling first to Hong Kong, then to Ecuador and the Bahamas, before arriving in Florida.
The clips depict him moving around parts of Xinjiang and documenting locations he characterizes as “concentration camps.”
Questioned at Wednesday’s hearing about whether filming the facilities and releasing the footage days before his US arrival was intended to bolster an asylum claim, Guan said it was not.
Speaking by video link from the US correctional facility where he was held, he said he “sympathised with the Uyghurs who were persecuted.”
Several governments, including the US, UK, Canada and the Netherlands, have accused China of crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against Xinjiang’s Uyghur Muslim population.
In 2018, a UN human rights committee said it had credible reports that up to a million people were being held in “counter-extremism centres” in the region, which is largely cut off to international media and observers.
China rejects allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang and says the centres are “re-education camps” intended to prevent terrorism and root out Islamist extremism.
In 2022, police files obtained by the BBC detailed China’s use of the camps and described the routine deployment of armed officers and a shoot-to-kill policy for those attempting to escape.
Former detainees have described physical, psychological and sexual torture, and women have reported mass rape and sexual abuse.
Meanwhile, Uyghurs living in exile continue to share accounts of relatives who are frightened or have disappeared.