Tamworth Herald (UK): Town woman refused entry to Iceland

Xiao Yan Fullerton from the Buckingham Road area of Tamworth, but originally from China, was told at Heathrow Airport that she was not allowed to board a flight to Iceland because her name was on a blacklist.

The list was given to the Icelandic authorities by the Chinese government before a visit to the country by China’s president.

Mrs Fullerton believes she, and others who were refused entry, were discriminated against because they are practitioners of Falun Gong – a form of meditation similar to yoga which is banned in her former homeland.
She wanted to go to Iceland to take part in a peaceful protest for the rights of Falun Gong practitioners in China, where she said they are subjected to persecution and human rights abuses. Mrs Fullerton later paid an extra £708 to get to Iceland via Germany but she spoke of her disappointment at her experience, although she thought the Icelandic people were ‘kind-hearted and honest’ and were apologetic for their government’s actions.

She said: “Still shocked that the persecution of Falun Gong had been exported to the democratic west’, I was determined to try to get to the bottom of the issue, and to get to Iceland to appeal.

“The next day, I went to the Icelandic embassy in London along with 16 other practitioners who had also been refused entry, but with little real result. We were given a blanket statement, but they refused to talk to us.”

After being contacted by Mrs. Fullerton, Tamworth MP Brian Jenkins telephoned the embassy the next day and later received a response.[…]

Mrs Fullerton added: “Seeing how easily the Icelandic authorities bent to the will of the Chinese Government, at the expense of basic human rights and both Icelandic and international laws, it becomes easier to imagine the enormous power behind the persecution within China.”