Friends of Falun Gong Appeals to Australian Government to Allow Mr. and Mrs. Wang to Remain in Australia

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March 17, 2003

United to Support Falun Gong Practitioners' Freedom of Belief

March 12, 2003

The Honorable Philip Ruddock, MP
Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs

Parliament House, Suite MF 40
Canberra ACT 2600

RE: Immigration File No: CLF 2001/40662, RRT File No: N02/45236 Client ID: 31527125190 (Mr. Wang Jun Tao), 31736125190 (Mrs. Wang Li Luan) Current application status: Review by Minister]

Dear Min. Ruddock:

On behalf of Friends of Falun Gong, I am writing to express our deep concern about the impending deportation to China of an elderly couple, Mr. Wang Juntao, 66 and Ms.áWang Liluan, 62. Friends of Falun Gong is a U.S.-based nonprofit human rights organization consisting of about 1,000 members who support the freedom of belief of persons who practice Falun Gong.

Despite the fact that the Wangs have submitted repeated applications for refugee status on the grounds that they are Falun Gong practitioners who will be persecuted if returned to their homeland, they are scheduled to be deported in the near future. The Australian Immigration Department is under the mistaken impression that this couple will not be harmed because they can practice at home and pose no threat to the Chinese government coupled with the fact that neither of them is a leader in the Falun Dafa community.

The truth of the matter is that Jiang Zemin has directed a systematic persecution of all Falun Gong practitioners for which he has set up the "610 Office." This organization transcends all levels of government and has been mandated to eradicate Falun Gong using torture, brainwashing, and defamatory propaganda, both in China and around the world through its embassies and consulates. This puts every practitioner in China at risk. Please visit our website http://www.fofg.org (Friends of Falun Gong USA) for well-documented reports about the persecution faced by practitioners all over the world, and especially in China.

Mr. and Mrs. Wang have already experienced detention and beatings; Mr. Wang's brother-in-law was tortured to death; two of Mr. Wang's brothers are in labor camps; and a close friend of Mr. Wang was sentenced to 18 years in a labor camp. The Wangs have suffered enough. It would be morally reprehensible for the Australian government to send this couple back to China as they face certain persecution as well as physical and mental abuse. We ask you to urge the Australian government to allow Mr. and Mrs. Wang to stay in Australia where they can peacefully practice their spiritual beliefs.

Sincerely,