Out In The Open

Vancouver woman tries to come to grips with losing all communication with her family in China

Dilnur Kurban lives in Vancouver. Her family is Uighur, a persecuted Muslim minority group in China. They wanted to limit communication with her for a time, fearing that speaking to a foreign family member could lead to them being placed in detention camps. At first, Kurban agreed and also never spoke of the situation to others.

Dilnur Kurban's family is Uighur, a persecuted Muslim minority group in China

Dilnur Kurban lives in Vancouver. Her family is Uighur, a persecuted Muslim minority group in China. (Submitted by Dilnur Kurban)

This story was originally published on October 25, 2019.

Dilnur Kurban came to Vancouver from China as an international student in 2011. Her family is Uighur, a persecuted Muslim minority group in China.

They wanted to limit communication with her for a time, fearing that speaking to a foreign family member could lead to them being placed in detention camps. At first, Kurban agreed and also never spoke of the situation to others.

But now that she's lost complete contact with her family, she tells Out in the Open host Piya Chattopadhyay why she's breaking her silence.


This story appears in the Out in the Open episode "Silence Yourself".