Speech Given by UK Falun Gong Association Director at Home Office Press Conference: "A Touchstone Case for the UK Asylum System"

(Clearwisdom.net)

After being denied asylum in the UK, Ms. Lin Lili, a citizen of the People's Republic of China and Falun Gong practitioner, is awaiting deportation to China scheduled for March 7, 2003. As a Falun Gong practitioner, however, Ms. Lin would face severe persecution or worse if sent back to China.

For more than three years the Falun Gong Information Center has been researching, documenting and reporting on the violent and systematic persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. In that time, the Center has received reports from China on a daily basis regarding the extensive torture and other brutal means that are used on people who practice or advocate for Falun Gong.

To date, the Center has verified details of 581 deaths in China, while Chinese government sources say the actual death toll is well over 1,600. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps, typically without trial. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other international organizations have independently documented many of these cases.

Indeed, the persecution of Falun Gong in China is systematic and thorough, as described in a resolution passed unanimously (420-0) in July 2002 by the U.S. Congress: "The campaign of persecution [against Falun Gong] is carried out by government officials and police at all levels, and has permeated every segment of society and every level of government in the People's Republic of China."

It is, therefore, a matter of the utmost concern that Ms. Lin is facing imminent deportation from the UK back to China. As a practitioner of Falun Gong, it is certain that she would face severe persecution or worse were she deported. Furthermore, Ms. Lin is sixty days pregnant. It would be extremely dangerous for her to be sent back to a hostile environment where she could be detained and tortured at any moment, especially as China is known to use late-term abortions to force female Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their beliefs.

Regrettably, Ms. Lin's current situation largely stems from a mix-up with her home mailing address. In October 2001, Ms. Lin applied for political asylum to the Home Office in Manchester. In April 2002, after her marriage to Jinfei Zhang, a doctoral candidate at Liverpool University and also a Falun Gong practitioner, Ms. Lin moved from Manchester to Liverpool. In compliance with regulations, she duly informed the Home Office of the change of address and reported in person on a regular basis.

The Home Office declined Ms. Lin's asylum application. Notification of the denial, however, was mailed to her former address in Manchester. Unaware of the existence of the notification because she had long since moved to Liverpool, Ms. Lin failed to appeal the denial in a timely fashion subjecting her to deportation. As was her usual practice, on February 26, Ms. Lin reported to the Home Office in Liverpool whereupon she was detained and informed she would be deported back to China.

In the face of the overwhelming evidence of persecution in China for Falun Gong practitioners, and in light of the unfortunate circumstances that denied Ms. Lin an opportunity to appeal the decision regarding her application for asylum, it is imperative that UK's Home Office reconsider Ms. Lin's case, and abandon any immediate plans to deport her back to China.

In the name of humanity and upholding the fundamental principles of the asylum system, Ms. Lin's case deserves a thorough review by the proper British authorities.

http://clearharmony.net/articles/200303/10727.html