Short version: Qaster Musahan, a refugee in Kazakhstan who had previously spent over 4 years in prison in Xinjiang and who, together with his friend Murager, fled the region by illegally crossing the border and traversing the mountains into Kazakhstan in October 2019, was seriously beaten by 4 unknown men in Almaty on December 22, 2023, while waiting for friends at a restaurant. He needs medical treatment, a place to live, food, and a new phone, with a preliminary estimate at $1000-$2000 total. People who want to help can donate to the general assistance fundraiser here, with funds raised in the next few days to a week to be relegated to Qaster specifically. Anything raised over the estimated target will be used to help other former detainees, as is usually done.
Letter of appeal from Qaster (drafted by a friend on his behalf and translated into English):
Hello everyone,
My name is Qaster Musahan. I was born in 1989, and am from Dorbiljin County, Tacheng Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. I am a victim of the ethnic oppression policies that the Chinese Communist Party started in Xinjiang in 2016. On October 6, 2019, I fled to Kazakhstan, and am now a refugee in Kazakhstan.
On the evening of December 22, 2023, around 6 to 7 PM, I was attacked by four strangers at the Darhan Restaurant in the Aqqent residential complex in Almaty. I was seriously injured. I have broken ribs and a concussion, and my legal status in Kazakhstan makes life in general very difficult.
An ambulance came one and a half hours after the incident and took me to the hospital, where I had an ultrasound. Then, I was not admitted for inpatient treatment. Now, I need treatment and also do not have a fixed place to live.
They also broke my phone during the attack.
I don’t even have money for food. My situation is really miserable, and I need everyone’s help.
More context:
While the exact reasons for the attack are unclear and police are currently investigating, such incidents against Xinjiang refugees in Kazakhstan are not unprecedented. In January 2021, both Murager Alim and Qaisha Aqan (who also crossed the border illegally a day before police were planning to arrest her) were assaulted at around the same time in different cities, with Qaisha being badly beaten and Murager being stabbed. Although police started an investigation of the case, it was eventually stopped, with allegations at one point that Qaisha and Murager staged the attacks themselves (it has also been reported that the surveillance camera that should have captured the attack on Qaisha was off at the time of the incident). It is not clear what direction the current investigation will take, but any outcome where “justice prevails” would likely be more of a surprise than an expectation.
All three (Qaisha, Murager, and Qaster) believe these attacks to be politically motivated and aimed to intimidate and frighten them, with Chinese authorities possibly playing a role. These suspicions are founded and stem from their sensitivity as Xinjiang witnesses/refugees, Kazakhstan’s record of appeasing China by cracking down on and harassing Xinjiang-linked activists on their territory, and the country simultaneously refusing to grant them citizenship and not issuing them travel permits to seek refuge in another country, as detailed in a recent article. Because the refugee status in Kazakhstan does not come with full rights, they and others in their situation have had added difficulties in such routine tasks as finding work, registering a phone card, and checking into a hospital. This has left many in difficult financial situations (in Qaster’s case, he has been homeless for several months, having been kicked out after failing to pay the rent).
Despite rhetoric critical of China’s policies, Western governments have done very little to help these people with regard to resettlement (for example, Qaster, Murager, and Qaisha’s cases in particular, together with their dangers and struggles, have been known to the United States authorities for years). As a result, they have often been forced to rely on charity, in a country where they feel threatened and where they do not have equal rights, while simultaneously fearing that the big neighbor to the east may one day demand their extradition.