By Huang Ailan

(Clearwisdom.net) My name is Huang Ailan and I live in Paris, France. On February 2, 2004, I went to the Consular Section in the Chinese Embassy in Paris to have my passport extended. A clerk accepted my application form, photos and the other necessary papers, and then gave me a receipt that would enable me to get my passport back on February the 16th

On Monday February 16, when I approached the clerk to get my passport back, she told me that she couldn't find my passport. I went to the reception office near the gate and asked why my passport wasn't there. A gentleman in the reception office phoned and enquired about my lost passport. Someone in the Consular Section said that he couldn't find it either. I waited for more than two hours. Finally I asked him for a telephone number of a person who is in charge of my passport. He gave me the telephone number of a Mr. Wang. When I got home, I phoned Mr. Wang many times but nobody answered.

On Wednesday when I was away, my daughter answered a telephone call, which requested me to go to the Consular Section the next day. The person in the reception office told me that they were not working that day. I told him that Mr. Wang asked me to come. The man in the reception office said that there was no way I could see him even if he had asked me to come, and then he told me to come again the next day. On Friday, I went there again. The man in the reception office called Mr. Wang and told me that Mr. Wang was too busy to see me. He asked me to come again next week. I said that I had phoned Mr. Wang many times but nobody answered. The person in the reception office didn't say anything.

The next week, the person in the reception office told me again that Mr. Wang was engaged. I told him that I also have to work and it was impossible for me to come here again and again without any result. The person in the reception office called Mr. Wang again. He told Mr. Wang that I had been here many times, and then he told me to wait for a little while. In a few minutes, Mr. Wang came downstairs and asked me in to have a talk. His first words were, "Aren't you practicing Falun Gong?" I answered, "Yes, I am practicing Falun Gong. Is there anything wrong with me practicing Falun Gong?" "Do you know that practicing Falun Gong is banned in China?" he asked. I told him, "You shouldn't just listen to the propaganda from the Chinese ruling Party; it would be much better to listen to what we Falun Gong practitioners have to say."

I told him about the great physical and mental changes that have taken place since my whole family started practicing Falun Gong. I continued, "Falun Gong teaches people Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. Is it wrong to be good people?" He asked me to write a report, in which I should tell them what I thought about Falun Gong. I told him that there was no need for me to write such a report, because I had told him what I thought about Falun Gong just now. He insisted that I write it. I asked him, "Are you going to give my passport back if I write a report expressing the same opinion about Falun Gong as I've told you just now?" He replied, "We will consider it." A week passed and I sent my report to the Consulate Section by registered mail. In the report, I told them about how my body and mind have benefited from practicing Falun Gong and how Jiang's group has cruelly suppressed Falun Gong. As a Dafa practitioner, it is my duty to tell more people about Falun Gong and to help end the persecution as soon as possible. I expressed the hope that they wouldn't continue taking part in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners after they learned the facts.

A few days later after the letter was sent, I went to the Consulate Section again. Mr. Wang told me that he had received my letter. I asked him where my passport was. He said he had to wait for a reply from the authorities in China and he was not sure how long that would take. I asked him if he could write me a certificate indicating that my passport was being processed. He said that he could do nothing about it and asked me to take my passport back without it being extended. This was in February then, and my passport was due to expire on June the 1st.

Copy of the passports of Ms. Huang and her husband

Receipt of the passport renewal

On June 22, my husband and I went to the Consulate Section to have our passports extended. The clerk gave us a receipt with which we could get our passports back on the 6th of July after going through all the necessary procedures.

On the 6th of July, the woman who was in charge of giving back the passports said she couldn't find our passports. We then went to the reception office and asked what was wrong with our passports. The man in the reception diverted us to another clerk. When I handed in my receipt, the woman said, "Your case is special and you have to wait for a reply from the authorities in China." When I enquired of her what section was in charge of the matter and its address and telephone numbers, she answered, "How can I tell you!" I replied, "All right, I will leave my telephone number with you, and you can contact me if you want to know anything about me." She said, "We've already got a lot of information about you." "Can you write and tell me the reason why our passports have not been extended?" I asked. She refused and asked us to take our passports back. When I left, I told her, "Falun Gong practitioners are good people. Do remember that Falun Dafa is good." She smiled after hearing this.

It has been three months since then, and we still haven't gotten any reply from the Consulate Section. In fact, they are just using this situation to persecute us. Without passports, we have no freedom to travel. We have been deprived of the right to be Chinese citizens because we practice Falun Gong. We have become people with no nationality.

At present, there are more than ninety Falun Gong practitioners in nineteen countries in the world whose passport renewals have been refused or given back to them unprocessed. We are writing about what we have encountered to let people know how the Jiang faction is persecuting Falun Gong practitioners overseas. Meanwhile, we are calling on kind people to condemn these actions that violate on human rights and which are against international law.

http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200410/22376.html

Posting date: 10/11/2004
Original article date: 10/11/2004
Category: Eyewitness Accounts
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/10/3/85697.html

 Yearly Archive  Printer Version