One of the smallest immigrant communities in the United States is that of the Uyghurs ?- a Turkic ethnic group whose ancestral home is in northwestern China. Today on New American Voices, Oksana Dragan talks with the president of the Uyghur American Association, which represents the 500 to 1000 Uyghurs living in this country.
Alim Seytoff spent the first 27 years of his life in what the Uyghurs call East Turkistan, a part of China that is also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. He?s been in the United States for seven years now, and says there is one overwhelming difference between life here and there.
Mr. Seytoff says the situation was particularly tough for the Muslim and Indo-European Uyghur minority, with its distinct culture and language. Uyghur separatist aspirations have met with strong countermeasures by the Chinese government. In fact, much of the organized activity of Uyghurs in the United States is aimed at calling attention to the abuse of the human, religious and civil rights of their brethren in Xinjiang.
To inform the American public, especially American leaders, about the situation in Xinjiang Province, Alim Seytoff says the Uyghur community has undertaken active lobbying efforts in Washington.
Most of the Uyghurs living in the United States came to this country in the 1990s. Many immigrated from East Turkistan, but others came from neighboring regions of Central Asia ? Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Alim Seytoff says the largest group of Uyghurs ? about a hundred people ? have settled in the Washington, D.C. area, where they gather regularly for New Years? parties, or to sing Uyghur songs, dance Uyghur dances, and immerse their kids in Uyghur traditions. Some young Uyghurs have volunteered to conduct regular classes to teach children the Uyghur culture and language, supported by parents who worry that their children are quickly becoming Americanized.
Alim Seytoff himself came to the United States as a student in 1996. After graduating college with a degree in communications, Mr. Seytoff worked for a few years as an Uyghur-language broadcaster for Radio Free Asia, then left to study international law, which he believes will be useful to him in his desire to help the Uyghur people. Meanwhile, he says, he feels very much at home -- and welcome -- in the United States.
Mr. Seytoff believes that that same acceptance extends to religions in this country. He says that although the Uyghur community is Muslim, it did not feel any negative backlash after Muslim terrorists attacked the World Trade towers and the Pentagon in September, 2001.
Alim Seytoff, one of the leaders of the Uyghur community in the United States.