Washington, D.C. - Under pressure from Chinese Government officials, Cambodian police deported a Chinese couple living and working in Phnom Penh, both of whom held U.N. Refugee Certificates.
"This action is a blatant violation of status as refugees, and another flagrant attack on practitioners of Falun Gong on the part of the Chinese Government," commented Institute President Joseph K. Grieboski. "The lives of these individuals are in extreme danger at the hands of the Chinese authorities."
The current condition of Li Guojun and his wife, Zhang Xinyi, is unknown. They are being held in a detention center in Changsha City, the capital of Hunan Province in China.
The couple applied in June for an extension of their Chinese passports at the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh and were refused. In July they applied for and obtained U.N. Refugees Certificates.
"We call on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to investigate this violation of the refuges rights of this couple, and to press the Chinese authorities to release Li Guojun and his wife," Mr. Grieboski continued. "Given the systematic persecution suffered by Falun Gong practitioners at the hands of the Chinese Government, there is no telling what fate awaits these two innocent religious believers." [Editors note - Falun Gong is not a religion - this is a common misunderstanding]
Institute on Religion and Public Policy
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