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Blacklist Incident Arises Again: Falun Gong Practitioner Denied Entry to Thailand
(Clearwisdom.net) From June 11 to 16, 2002, when Jiang Zemin visited Iceland, he exerted pressure on the Icelandic
government concerning Falun Gong, and provided the Icelandic government a blacklist of Falun Gong
practitioners. The Icelandic Department of Justice used the blacklist to block the entry of Falun
Gong practitioners into Iceland. This led to strong protests by the Icelandic people, and the
incident received widespread attention from various governments, media, and people around the world. On June 5, 2003, the Icelandic Data Protection Authority delivered its formal verdict regarding
the blacklist incident: "It was illegal for the Icelandic Department of Justice to provide
relevant information of Falun Gong practitioners to Icelandic Airlines, and embassies in USA,
Norway, Denmark, England and France, who then used the information to prevent Falun Gong
practitioners from entering Iceland." Regrettably, within two months a similar incident surfaced in Thailand. On July 25, 2003, Dr.
Zhen, a postgraduate research fellow from Sydney, Australia, boarded Cathay Pacific Airway flight
CX713 from Singapore to Thailand to visit her boyfriend, whom she hadn't seen for quite a long time,
and to discuss their wedding plans. At 3:00 p.m. Thailand time, Dr. Zhen arrived at Bangkok Airport,
and like her four previous visits to Thailand, she went to apply for her visa at the airport visa
office. However, after inputting her name in the computer, the operator called in other officers
regarding her application. The other passengers had completed their visa procedures, but there was
no word on her application. Then the operator asked her to wait in an office while two more officers
came to check her information on the computer. When she asked what the problem was, she was told
that there might be problems with her passport. About one hour later, she was taken to another visa office to have her passport checked, where
she waited for an additional half an hour. Finally she was told that her name was the problem. They
mentioned the blacklist. She was sent to the police department at the airport to be deported back to
Singapore because she was on the blacklist of Falun Gong practitioners. An officer who could speak
some Chinese told her, "China and Thailand have diplomatic relations." After 5:00 p.m.,
two high-ranking officers came, one being a military officer. They had in their hands a copy of
document in Thai. They mentioned "Falun Gong" many times in their conversations. Finally, the two officers came to the decision to have her deported, and denied her request to
meet with her boyfriend, who was waiting outside the airport. She was sent to the detention center
at the airport, a place where illegal aliens were detained. Her request for a phone call to her
boyfriend was also denied; she was told that she could make no phone calls. In contrast, the other
detainees at the center were allowed to make or receive phone calls. At 11:00 a.m. on July 26, three police officers and one female employee at the detention center
escorted her to a plane bound for Singapore. After learning of her ordeal and the facts about Falun
Gong, one of the police officers expressed his willingness to help, but there was not much he could
do. He also expressed the wish to learn more about Falun Gong. It is a pity for the people of Thailand that their government chooses to
maintain and enforce a blacklist of Falun Gong practitioners, a choice that
upright countries have acknowledged is wrong and against human decency. Last year, during the APEC meeting in Mexico, Falun Gong
practitioners did not encounter any interference, even though the Mexican authorities had the
blacklist provided to them by Jiang's regime. The airport personnel welcomed the arrival of Falun Gong practitioners to Mexico. June 30, 2003 Posting date: 8/8/2003 |