3/17/2003

Dear MPs / Senator

RE: URGENT APPEAL FOR ASYLUM FOR MR JUNTAO WANG, 66 & MRS LILUAN WANG 62

Further to the detention and proposed deportation back to China of Mr and Mrs Wang we request your urgent attention in this most important matter. The Wang's case has generated a lot of interest and we believe you will be able to better lend your support upon carefully considering the key points presented here, which primarily relate to issues of assessment, morality and outcomes - and whether DIMIA has truly understood what it means to practise Falun Gong/Falun Dafa and the reality for practitioners under the persecution in China.

The Department has offered various reasons and questions in dismissing Mr and Mrs Wang's appeal, which also relate to the assessment of other Falun Gong applicants such as:

The persecution of Falun Gong has been carried out systematically by the state under President Jiang's directives. The "6-10 Office" was set up by the President of China on June 10, 1999 to specifically persecute Falun Gong. ("6-10" refers to the date of creation). This organization is used at all levels of government, from state to municipal to national, and it's mandate is to terrorize and eradicate Falun Gong using torture, brainwashing, and by spreading defaming propaganda, both inside China and abroad. Its authority supersedes all legal, judicial, and governmental bodies and influences all facets of society, including schools, communities, and workplaces, to harm their own.
On July 4, 2001, ABC TV reported that "close to half" of those held in China's forced labour camps are Falun Gong practitioners. (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2001/07/item20010704200115_1.htm)

To accept the above proposition is to belie the reality of the persecution, where the stated aim is to make practitioners renounce their beliefs, and thereby eradicate Falun Gong. A practitioner of Falun Gong has no sense of security at all in China and is living under terror every moment.

Even if you hide at home, while going to the shops you may stopped at any time to answer questions such as, "Are you a Falun Gong practitioner?" Upon answering "yes", you will be arrested right away. Can you say "no" if you cultivate "truthfulness"?

There are several reasons why having valid travel documents is unrelated to a practitioner's potential for persecution. Corruption is rampant and, for a fee, certain documents can be obtained if one is desperate to leave the country. Also there is variance in how thoroughly local officials scrutinize applications in different regions. There is also the system of connections and who you know, which can also facilitate difficult-to-procure documentation. It is fair to say that it is not the system of accountable bureaucracy that we are familiar with. Thus in Australia, there will be a variety of ways practitioners seeking protection were able to come here.

Practitioners keep publicly upholding the principles of Falun Dafa, Truth, Compassion and Forbearance, in China and around the world because they know they are precious. They cherish the positive changes they have experienced in their life. It is also a responsibility to be true to principles that one comes to know that support all that is good in the world - that are the basis of every orthodox spiritual practice -Truth, Compassion, Forbearance. They hope for others, both in China and elsewhere, to also have the opportunity of knowing the profound essence of Falun Dafa - to know the harmony that comes naturally when we place virtue above self interest.

Issues of Procedure for Mr and Mrs Wang

We understand that Mr and Mrs Wang missed the timeframe to apply to the RRT and there was also a failure to return to DIMIA after giving commitments to do so, or failure to leave Australia after agreeing to do so - decisions of course they regret. However, they did return voluntarily to face the consequences at DIMIA and were not arrested as such.

We ask that you understand they were in a terrible state of confusion - facing a quandary that none of us should have to face - choosing between protection of themselves or the protection of their child. They feared for their lives. Mr Wang had already been in detention in China and tortured for his belief in Falun Gong. They feared what impact their protection application would have on their son and his family, who go to China on business.

Because of their failure to adhere strictly to the requirements, is it the correct sanction to send them back to the hell-hole of persecution awaiting them in China - to sentence them to a likely tortured death, just as Mr Wang's brother in law suffered because of his practice of Falun Gong?

Amnesty International pointed out that this couple has "well-founded fear for persecution".
While other democratic countries and international organizations are making their best efforts to rescue Falun Gong practitioners persecuted in China, the Australian government appears to be doing exactly the opposite.

We understand that Mr Ruddock declined to use his discretionary power to permit a further application because he did not think it to be in the public interest to do so. But what is truly in the public interest? In China, Falun Gong practitioners continue to appeal for the freedom of belief, for the freedom to have Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance accepted for all the people of China.
That is truly in the public interest.

We hope you can see that for DIMIA to allow Mr and Mrs Wang asylum in Australia, to allow them to live with their son, is to act in the public interest. In so doing it is taking a stand for all that is good in our country. We don't wish to see Australia aligned with Cambodia as the only country to send back Falun Gong practitioners to China.

We trust that you and the other Parliamentarians can find compassion and clarity in your hearts to see the way forward that is not only in the interests of an elderly Chinese couple, but in the interest of all Australia.

Thank you for your attention and earnest consideration in this important matter.

Posting date: 3/17/2003
Original article date: 3/17/2003
Category: Falun Dafa Worldwide
Chinese version available at http://www.falunau.org/indexArticle.jsp?itemID=432

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