What a Riot!

[Written by Kenneth on 10 July 2009]

It is amazing, we are currently relaxing in an airconditioned Marrone Rosso cafe sipping cupaccino and eating apple strudel along a tree lined street in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Just 24+ hours before we were wondering and desperately crying out to God to help us get our passports back and organise accomodation then somehow get out of Urumqi.

The riots started on Sunday, 5th July in the evening with the Uyghur mainly disenfranchised men (but women were also involved) struck in mob style many points of the city, overturning cars (including police), breaking shops, setting fire to shops/vehicles and basically messing people. The news reports say 156 people were kiled and 800 injured in the aftermath. There has been strong undercurrents of resentment with these people for 60 years since China took over, so there was a recent flashpoint event involving an Uyghur girl raped in Guangzhou and 2 Uyghur men who were murdered when they came to her aid...apparently. They say justice was not served by the governemnt. By and large, the Muslim leaders are condemning the riots and the "ordinary" folk decrying it as well because they now have life made so much harder for them.
What was NOT reported in the news which keeps repeating and repeating is that on Tuesday, 7th July, following the riots, the Han Chinese retaliated in full view of the army and police! This was the day I was stuck out in the north of the city at the Kazakh embassy and everything just clamped down with no taxis or cars on the road. I've never feared for my safety so much as I was that day when all around me were Han Chinese (normal looking people dressed like you and I) carrying metal bars, axe handles, shovels etc all milling about the streets and some moving in large groups northward. At the same time 20+ truck loads of riot soldiers and police at a time were being deployed some with automatic rifles with bayonets fixed. The weirdest thing was to see all these armed people moving past the authorities who were meant to be there to hold the peace!

Anyway, not knowing whether to stay or go, I decided to start moving because it was simply unknown at that stage what would happen. If things flared up the whole city could be in lock down indefinitely and I would be separated from Stephanie whom I had no idea how to get in contact with (phones are are a bit funny in Urumqui and I forgot to get hotel number). So I started walking in a general direction. More than once, in the heightened atmosphere I thought I saw or heard mobs of people coming in my direction, but it turned out to simply just be groups of people walking. It was unreal seeing so many people mostly armed with weapons walking on the streets while the streets were almost devoid of vehicles and miliatary personnel blocking every street corner. By His grace, I got back to Steph after 3 hours. That night the curfew started and the helicopters started circling the city.

We stayed in on Wednesday not daring to venture out except a few meters down the road to get some food supplies, but even the Uyghur staff in the hotel were nervous. The doors of the hotel were chained and all night there were sirens and blaring horns going off. The view from our window was disturbing as everything is quiet. We wondered how to get our passports from the Kazakh embassy which was meant to be ready on Monday. Do we venture out Thursday? We had gotten a few sms messages out to our parents who contacted the Aust Embassy who called us. They gave us the number for the Kazakh embassy to call but to no avail, no answer.

On Thursday, we prayed for what to do and decided to pack up and venture to the Kazakh embassy together and if they wern't open we'd try to book into a hotel nearer that area which is more Han. As Steph and I look more Han, this was probably a "better" area but we were well treated even in the Uyghur area in the South though the stares and talking behind our backs wondering whether we were Koreans would be there. We left early, still not knowing what the situation was like on the streets. Thankfully, traffic seemed normal and we were able to catch a taxi almost immediately. The taxis are interesting. They are SO overt, the Han drivers will not pick up Uyghurs and vice versa.

We got to the Kazakh embassy and as usual there was nothing indicating what time they would open or if they would even be open. Anyway, managed to get from a guard there that they'd be open at 12pm. At 12:30 they opened and by 1pm I had gotten our passports! Originally, we were going to catch a train, but the next train to Kazakh was only on Satruday. We found out there was a ticketing office "up the road" and after walking for about an hour we eventually found it, bought our overpriced tickets, got to the airport and by 10pm Beijing time, we were in a totally different country!

Tonight we are heading out of Almaty to some mountain lakes for the weekend. It will be good to get some fresh air and beauty. I am REALLY enjoying just living in an atmosphere that is not heavy with fear and the unknown. My heart and thoughts are with the people in Urumqi who have to go through the fear every moment of everyday.

The media does not give a good picture of what is happening around and as you know there is a total internet shutdown and international phone blackout too. So there is alot of unknown these people have to deal with. Before we left, the government were threatening to shut off the gas and water if the trouble continued. Is that tomorrow, the next day? Is there a mob up the street? Are there going to be veges tomorrow? Oil? Rice? All these unknowns all breed so much fear even for believers. I am SO RELIEVED to be out of it even when were were in it for 3 days.
Steph is really enjoying Almaty which reminds her of Melbourne becaue of its tree lined streets and multicultural mix of people. She's especially looking forward to seeing the ballet apparently very good at bucket prices!

Thank you for keeping in touch and for your prayers as we journey.