No Escape documents the history of Uyghurs in what is now northwest China, Mongolia and eastern Kazakhstan.[2] In the book, Turkel explains how Uyghurs historically tended to refer to themselves as yerlik (English: locals).[2] Turkel states that China imprisoned Ilham Tohti to prevent him speaking out about the treatment of Uyghurs.[1] He writes that China's decision to imprison Tohti was a decision made to avoid him becoming a global spokes person for the Uyghurs akin to how the Dalai Lama does for Tibet.[1]
The book documents the government of China's actions in Xinjiang including forced sterilizations to drive the Han Chinese population up compared to the Uyghur.[1] Apartheid, torture, "re-education", mosque destruction, Mandarin replacing Uyghur language in schools, government surveillance, forced consumption of alcohol, sexual assault[1] Turkel praises Mike Pompeo for calling the actions genocide and praises Joe Biden for passing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.[1]
