Canada: Falun Gong Practitioners in Toronto Call for a Halt to Repatriation

Falun Gong practitioners in Canada gathered in front of the South Korean Consulate in Toronto on September 20th, 2011, to call for the South Korean government to face up to the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and to stop repatriating Falun Gong practitioners to China.

Practitioners hold a rally in front of the South Korean Consulate in Toronto to call for the South Korean government to stop repatriating Falun Gong practitioners

Mr. Joel Chipkar, Vice Chairman of the Toronto Falun Dafa Association, submitted a letter to Lee Myung-bak, the President of South Korea, to urge the South Korean government to stop repatriating Falun Gong, work closer with the Korean Falun Dafa Association, and implement policy supporting Falun Gong refugees.

The South Korean government has repatriated at least ten Falun Gong practitioners to China since 2009. Chipkar pointed out that doing this was against humanity and the South Korean government's promise to international society. The ten deported practitioners have been confirmed missing in China. Mr. Jin Jingzhe, a practitioner in South Korea, is currently facing repatriation. Despite the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong by the CCP, the South Korean government has denied 56 Falun Gong practitioners' applications for asylum.

Mr. Jiao Wenjian came to Canada from South Korea in February, 2011. He used to be in the same marching band with Mr. Jin Jingzhe when he was in South Korea. He said Mr. Jin's mother had been incarcerated in a forced labour camp in China. Mr. Jin was forced to leave school and home. Jiao told the reporter, “I'm very worried about the situation of Falun Gong practitioners in Korea. Many of them have already been persecuted in jails or forced labour camps when they were in China.”