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Denmark: The Difficulties in Obtaining a Passport for Our Daughter

December 24, 2002 |   Danish Falun Dafa practitioner

(Clearwisdom.net)

We are a Chinese couple who practice Falun Gong and have worked and lived in Denmark since 2001.

Our daughter was born in May of 2002. Two months later, I brought my daughter to the Chinese Embassy in Denmark to have her name registered on my passport. At the beginning, the staff in the embassy said that it could be done immediately and told us the personal identification materials required. I had given them all of this material, but when they took a look at our passports and papers, they stopped everything. At that time, one official came to us to ask me some questions. He also told me that the reason why my daughter's name could not be registered on my passport was that I had not yet obtained a Danish residency permit (at that time we were applying for the residency permit). I responded that my daughter was applying for Chinese nationality, which was not related to whether I had a Danish residence permit or not. He said something which had nothing to do with my inquiry and went back to his office. He did not come back out.

After I had been kept waiting for a long time, other staff members at the embassy told me to first obtain my Danish residency permit and they said that they would research my case. At the same time, they also asked me some questions about Falun Gong. I openly answered all of their questions and told them about the benefits of practicing Falun Gong.

One week later, I called to ask about my daughter's nationality. They said that nothing could be done. I asked for the reason, but was not given any.

In September, I had obtained my Danish residency permit so I took it to the Chinese Embassy. This time they accepted my application and I was told to wait for further information. I asked why and they said that they needed to wait for permission from their superiors. They also told me, "Your behavior (those who practice Falun Dafa) is in opposition to our government. You'd better forget any idea of going back to China. Go home and wait for further information." Unable to do anything about this, we revealed the whole event on a Falun Dafa website.

About one month later, there was no further information so I called the embassy. The person on the phone did not know who I was and said, "If you had applied for it one month ago, it should have been done. Why didn't you come to get it earlier?" When I read my application number to him, he said hesitatingly after a long wait, "There is still no further information about your application. Just wait for it and if there is any information, I will inform you." I asked him when there would be further information. He said that he did not know.

When I called the embassy again half a month later, I was told, "Actually, as you know, when I asked you to wait for further information, you should not be too optimistic. I have no right to offer your daughter nationality. I need to wait for permission from my superiors."

In late November, the Chinese Embassy finally phoned. They agreed to give my daughter her own passport. They said "You should not have posted anything on your web sites. We just need some time to deal with this, and did not refuse to deal with it. After all, the kid is innocent."

Normally, it would have taken ten days to apply for a newborn baby's nationality. However, it took four months to apply for my daughter's nationality because she has parents who practice Falun Dafa. As a kind of special treatment, my daughter was given her own passport.

Through this application, we can see the evil people are very afraid of being exposed. Falun Dafa web sites can serve as good tools to expose their acts.

Through our contact with the Chinese Embassy staff, we could feel that many people are sympathetic and kind, but helpless. Here, I would like to express my thanks for your sympathy and sincerely wish that you could obtain a better understanding of Falun Gong and that you could treat Falun Gong practitioners kindly. Walk your own path well and choose a good future for yourselves.

Written by Chu Bao's parents.

http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200212/9027.html