Muyesser Abdul'ehed is a Uyghur poet and teacher, who has spoken out against civilian internment of Uyghur people by Chinese authorities. She teaches Uyghur language to children of the Uyghur diaspora.
Muyesser Abdul'ehed | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ghulja |
| Pen name | Hendan |
| Occupation | Poet; teacher |
| Language | Uyghur language |
| Citizenship | Turkey |
| Website | |
| facebook | |
Muyesser was born in Ghulja, a city in the north of Uyghur Autonomous region of Xinjiang in today's People's Republic China in the mid-1980s.[1] She studied Medicine at Peking University, followed by an MA in Public Health, from a Malaysian university.[1] During her undergraduate degree she began to write poetry and following her postgraduate degree decided to pursue a career in creative writing.[1]
In 2013, Muyesser moved to Turkey and established the organisation Ayhan Education, whose purpose is to foster the Uyghur language in diaspora communities.[1] Their work includes publishing a Uyghur language magazine written by children, aimed at their peers.[2] The magazine is called Four Leaf Clover.[3] Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hendan taught in-person language lessons, but since then has moved to digital tuition and reached more students as a result.[2]
Muyesser's writing focuses on the experience of Uyghur people forced to live in internment camps.[1] Her novel Kheyr-khosh, quyash (Farewell to the Sun) is the first novel to describe Uyghur internment camps.[1] Some of her work focuses on women's experiences, including a poem from the perspective of a wife whose husband is interned.[4]
As of 2020, Hendan lived in Istanbul.[1] She has spoken out about how her father expected the family to be imprisoned due to civil unrest.[5] She lost contact with her family in 2017 and she has spoken about her feelings of survivor guilt.[6] Her family were forced to cease contact with her due to pressure from the authoritarian state in China, where even being in contact with a relative abroad is a reason for arrest.[7] She believes her cousin, Erpat Ablekrem - a professional football player, was interned as a result of contact with her.[7]
She was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women announced on 23 November 2020.[8]
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