An outspoken former detainee in China's internment camps for Muslims says his application for a visa to visit the US was rejected despite an invitation to speak at Congress about his ordeal.
Kazakh national Omir Bekali was asked to travel to Washington in September by the chairs of the Congressional-Executive Committee on China.
He said his application was rejected by the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 after he was questioned about his employment status.
Bekali was one of the first people to speak out publicly about his experience in a camp in China's Xinjiang region, where an estimated 1 million Muslims are being detained.
The State Department declined to comment on Bekali's case, saying U.S. immigration law prohibits it from discussing individual visa cases.
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