EFIC Press Release: UN Refugees in Cambodia Forced into Hiding after Chinese Embassy Instigate Deportation of Refugee Couple to China

Amnesty International Calls for Urgent Action

Illegally Deported Couple Being Held in Number One Prison of Changsha, China

LONDON, August 20, 2002 (European Falun Gong Information Centre) – Eight days after the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh reportedly pressured Cambodian officials to violate the UN refugee status of two Falun Gong practitioners by deporting them back to China, at least two more refugees still living in Phnom Penh have been forced into hiding.

Mr. Jiang Linzhong is a 61-year-old Chinese national who lives with his wife, Wang Minchun, 58, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, under the protection of the UN High Commission on Refugees. On August 17, a neighbour called to inform him that a number of Cambodian officials accompanied by at least two Chinese officials had visited Mr. Jiang’s home in search of the couple. Mr. Jiang says he was not in his house at the time and the neighbour advised him not to return home because it was too dangerous. “We are very concerned about what the Chinese Embassy might do, especially after they violated UN laws by forcing Cambodian officials to deport Li Guojun and his wife Zhang Xinyi last week,” Mr. Jiang told us by phone.

Mr. Jiang is not certain how many other people living in Cambodia may be in a similar situation. However, Mr. Jiang says that at least six others who had been attending local Falun Gong group practice are no longer coming out for fear of arbitrary arrest under pressure from the Chinese Embassy.

Amnesty International has called for urgent action regarding these Chinese refugees in Cambodia.

“Individuals protected by the UNHCR office are having to go into hiding to protect themselves from the Chinese Embassy,” notes European Falun Gong Information Centre spokesman Peter Jauhal. “What does this tells us about the ability of Chinese agents to operate above the law in countries under pressure from China?”

Similar illicit pressure has recently raised concern in Hong Kong where 16 practitioners of Falun Gong were convicted last week on charges of obstruction for occupying a seven square metre area during a peaceful sit-in on a space of pavement in front of the Chinese Liaison Office in Hong Kong that defence attorneys described as “big enough to hold a small concert” (140 square metres). Other charges were also filed by police who violently arrested the practitioners a few hours after they had started the sit-in.

Two Friends Disappear

Mr. Jiang Lin Zhou and his wife had come to Phnom Penh in April 2001 to escape persecution in China. They set up a small business in the Cambodian capital and quietly continued practicing Falun Gong. Every morning, Li Guojun and his wife Zhang Xinyi – the couple who were illegally deported back to China on August 9 – would practice together with Mr. Jiang and his wife at Mr. Jiang’s home or in a local park.

On August 2, however, the couple did not come to Mr. Jiang’s home at the usual time, so he went to their house to make sure nothing was wrong. Li Guojun’s neighbours told Mr. Jiang that two Cambodian police and two Chinese officials had taken the couple away.

Mr. Jiang says he immediately went to the UNHCR Office and reported the detainment to officials there. He was assured that the case would be investigated. The UN office, however, was unable to locate the couple.

Finally, on August 9, Mr. Jiang received word that the couple had been deported back to Guangzhou, China, where they were handcuffed and taken away by Chinese police to Changsha, the capital city of Hunan Province.

According to sources in China, the couple is now being held at the Number One prison of Changsha.

The European Falun Gong Information Centre has verified details of 455 deaths since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. Government officials inside China, however, report that the actual death toll is well over 1,600. Over 100,000 have been detained, with more than 20,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps without trial.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT THE EUROPEAN FALUN GONG INFORMATION CENTRE
English Contact: Peter Jauhal +44 7985 034 543
Additional Contacts: http://www.falungonginfo.net/europe.htm Email: [email protected]