Kerimjan Abdurehim

Uyghur scholar, poet, and writer Kerimjan Abdurehim has been detained in China since 2016 with little information available about his status. His detention was reported in 2021 by activist Abduweli Ayup who listed Abdurehim among the many jailed Uyghur intellectuals. Abdurehim, formerly a professor at Kashgar Normal University, authored numerous textbooks and papers on classical Uyghur literature. His work emphasized preserving Uyghur cultural heritage, making his detention emblematic of China’s broader crackdown on ethnic minority scholars.