Kalbinur Sidik, who is of Uzbek ethnicity, served as an elementary school teacher in Ürümchi for 28 years until March 2017, when she was forced to work as a Chinese-language instructor in a hastily constructed internment camp. After teaching in an all-male camp for six months, she was transferred to an all-woman facility that held around 10,000 women in September. She was forced to have an IUD fitted and eventually underwent forced sterilization that resulted in medical complications. Her daughter in the Netherlands campaigned for her release until she reached a safe haven at the end of 2019. Her request for asylum is currently pending. Sidik testified before the Uyghur Tribunal in London in June 2021 and the US Congress in March 2023. She has also briefed policymakers in Australia and Japan.
