Malaysia: Two Practitioners Denied Entry to Singapore Twice

Two Malaysian Falun Gong practitioners, Huang Meiyi and Chen Yuyan, wanted to go to Singapore on September 12th, 2006, but were denied entry by the Singapore Immigration and Checkpoint Authorities (ICA) without reason. This was the second time that both of them were denied entry. They held a press conference to explain the situation in Johor, a southern city in Malaysia near Singapore. Malaysian News Agency and mainstream media in three major languages and Singapore media attended the press conference.

At 1:30 p.m. on September 12th, Huang Meiyi and Chen Yuyan arrived at the Woodlands Customs in Singapore. When they passed through customs and had their passports screened by the computer, a special icon appeared. Customs officers immediately asked them to enter an office to wait. They were called, one at a time, to another small room to be questioned.

They were both denied entry, but the customs officers only asked them to follow a female police officer to leave without saying anything else during the whole process. Huang and Chen complained that they were asked to leave without being informed of the reason why they were denied entry, and they were also dissatisfied that the customs officers did not say anything during the whole process, not even formally notifying them that they were denied entry. The two practitioners tried to meet with the customs officers and asked to be allowed to return to the customs office to see the person in charge, but their requests were repeatedly rejected.

They had reason to suspect that the Singapore government denied their entry because they are both Falun Gong practitioners. In July this year, when Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official Li Lanqing, who participated in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, came to visit Singapore, Huang and Chen went to Singapore to protest to Li Lanqing concerning the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong. They had planned to protest at the National University of Singapore where Li Lanqing would be receiving an honorary degree, but a large number of police officers followed them, so they had to give up their plan. When the security staff at the university took down their names and passport numbers, the police were also present.

They once again headed for Singapore in August but were denied entry. While passing through customs, their passports were screened via a computer, which notified the customs officers to refuse to let them enter. Were their names on a "blacklist?" The two had been to Singapore numerous times before and had never met with any problems.

During Li Lanqing’s visit to Singapore, Singapore imposed a series of charges against local Falun Gong practitioners and expelled Chinese practitioners who had legal resident status in Singapore.

At the press conference, the two practitioners also revealed that this is not just an individual case. In August, two other Falun Gong practitioners from Johor, Malaysia, were subjected to the same denial of entry into Singapore when they took the plane at Changyi Airport in Singapore to go abroad.

One of the practitioners involved in that incident, Mr. Lim, also attended the press conference. He went to Singapore’s Changyi International Airport to take the plane heading for Narita Airport in Japan. There was no problem on his trip to Japan, but when he returned from Japan, Singapore Customs Office refused to let Mr. Lim enter Singapore. Officials told him to buy another air ticket to Malaysia’s International Airport. Customs officials were unable to give any explanation why Mr. Lim had no problem flying to Japan from the Singapore airport but was denied re-entry upon his return. Mr. Lim paid the airport tax before boarding the flight.

Another practitioner from Johor took the plane at Singapore’s Changyi Airport to travel abroad in August. Just like Mr. Lim, he was denied re-entry into Singapore without being given any reason. As a result, he lost the cost of his ticket worth several thousand in Malaysian currency.

In addition, several Malaysian Falun Gong practitioners were questioned when they entered Singapore in the past few months.

Falun Gong practitioners called on the Malaysian government to pay attention to this matter, because it involves the infringement of the Malaysian citizens’ human rights: their beliefs are being discriminated against and they are being deprived of their freedom of movement. This also shows that the Singapore government discriminates against Falun Gong, even though Falun Gong is a legally registered society in Singapore. Malaysian practitioners also called upon the Singapore government not to be an accomplice in the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong.

Singapore practitioners also attended the press conference. They further explained to the media how Falun Gong is unfairly treated in Singapore.