By Tahir Imin | Uyghur Times | November 4, 2025 Updated: 3:05 PM Et
A Uyghur woman in Germany says her mother has been deported to China, where she fears she may face persecution by Chinese authorities. Uyghur Times has not been able to independently verify whether she was deported to China or to another country.
Muyesser, a 30-year-old Uyghur mother of three from Meerbusch, Germany, told Uyghur Times that officials from the Rathaus (local government) in Selsingen, Germany informed her on Tuesday morning that her mother, Rizwangul, had been deported to China by German immigration authorities on Monday.
In an emotional video shared online earlier in the day, Muyesser cried as she explained what happened:
“After my mom came to Germany, she applied for asylum, but her case was rejected. I and her lawyer were still working on it, and her appeal hearing was scheduled for October 29. But it was suddenly canceled two days before. Later, the Rathaus told my mom to come and collect some of her belongings. When I called them this morning, they said the immigration office told them she was deported to China yesterday. Please, I need everyone’s help to find my mother and know where she is. I’m dying from distress. My mom is sick and cannot bear any suffering.”
Rizwangul, 56, holds a Chinese passport. She lived in Turkey from 2016 until September 2024, when she traveled to Germany to seek asylum.
According to a document provided by Muyesser to Uyghur Times and reviewed by our newsroom, German authorities had officially notified Rizwangul months earlier that she could be deported to China.
The letter, issued on June 19, 2025, by The District Administrator, Department of Public Order / Foreigners Office of the District of Rotenburg (Wümme), stated:
“In the decision from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, you were requested to leave for Turkey. If you do not comply with this request, your deportation to Turkey was ordered. You can also be deported to any country that is willing to accept you or is obliged to take you back… In the case of deportation, you will not be deported to Turkey, but rather to China. You do not possess a Turkish identification document, and it has also not been clarified whether you hold Turkish citizenship.”
The document, signed on behalf of an official named Heitmann, explained that due to the absence of valid Turkish identification or proof of citizenship, Germany considered China as the default country of deportation for Rizwangul.
This revelation raises serious concerns that her deportation was not accidental but part of an official process that explicitly designated China as the receiving country — despite the well-documented risks Uyghurs face there.
This is not the first known case of a Uyghur being deported from Germany to China. In April 2018, authorities in the German state of Bavaria mistakenly deported a 22-year-old Uyghur man despite his pending asylum application. German officials later admitted the deportation was the result of a bureaucratic error after a fax from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) failed to reach local authorities in time.
After the 2018 deportation incident, the German government reportedly suspended all deportations of Uyghurs to China in August 2018, announcing that such removals would be halted until further notice, according to media reports.
Following the incident, the German government decided in 2018 to suspend deportation procedures to China for Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. Those from these groups who apply for asylum in Germany are granted the right to remain without the risk of deportation. The decision provides a “national deportation ban” (nationale Abschiebungsverbot) status, even if asylum applications are rejected; this grants a residence permit valid for 1–3 years and the right to work.
In response to Muyesser’s video, many in the Uyghur community expressed deep sympathy and shared her pain, praying for her mother’s safety. Community members and activists also called on Uyghur organizations to take urgent action and reach out to German authorities on Rizwangul’s behalf.