Villawood detainees form human barricade to stop Falun Gong deportation

Another Interview on the issue of Asylum Seekers detained in Australia. From Thursday March 1, 2007. RTRFM's Danae Gibson talks with Ian Rintoul about the Villawood situation and the plight of the latest Sri Lankan refugees:

Here is the link to the MP3:
IanRintoul_010307.MP3


Villawood detainees form human barricade to stop Falun Gong deportation

February 28, 2007 - In a successful attempt to stop the deportation of a Falun Gong practitioner to China, this morning some 100 detainees at Sydney's Villawood detention centre formed a human barricade...
The Refugee Action Coalition of NSW said the detainees assembled in and around a recreation room at the centre to protect the man who is inside the room. He was due to be deported on an Air China Flight departing at 12.20pm (AEDT) today.

Ian Rintoul from RAC told Perth Indymedia that detainees fear there may be further clashes with the 40 to 50 guards and detention centre officers.

"There is 100 detainees, people are coming and going but at any one time there is about 100 and they've got him inside," Mr Rintoul said. "The number of guards has increased, they have used force in the past and that is what is worrying the detainees, that there will be a clash if they try to remove this guy.

"Tensions are very high at Villawood at the moment." He told Perth Indymedia Immigration officials may try to grab him tonight - and a 24 vigl will br kept around the Chinese man who fears persecution and even death if deported to China.

Mr Rintoul said people of all different nationalities are forming the blockade, with one man telling him they were prepared to take "any action to protect this man. He said to me 'this isn't just a Chinese issue, this is a detainment issue, so we're all here'," Mr Rintoul said.

The detainee, Falun Gong practitioner Xiang Tao An, fears he will be forced to become part of a live organ trade. Mr An, 35, believes that his religion means he will be incarcerated on arrival in China. He says he has been detained twice by Chinese authorities in the past and claims he was beaten.

An refugee activist in contact with the detainees, Jamal Daoud, said the stand-off eased after Department of Immigration officials told the protesters Mr An's deportation notice had been cancelled.

"One of the detainees told me that the detention authorities even invited the Chinese detainees to BBQ and drinks," he said. "The detainees are very cautious that the department could try to deport the asylum seeker during the night. But for now, the department is very clearly does not want any standoff with detainees, especially if there is some media involvment."

The detainees protesting on behalf of Mr An are mostly Chinese, but other nationalities are involved due to concern over a recent series of deportations, said Ian Rintoul.

The Department of Immigration said earlier this week that Mr An, 35, was an unlawful non-citizen and would not be in danger if he was sent back. He was detained by Chinese authorities twice for practising Falun Gong before travelling to Australia in 2000.

He was taken into Villawood in 2003 while his claim for asylum was assessed, and was interviewed by a Chinese government delegation that was allowed to visit detainees in May 2005. Mr An's lawyer, Michaela Byers, said: "He fears that they will detain him on arrival, and that he may match someone on a data base who needs an organ transplant."

A report published last year, based on investigations undertaken by a former Canadian cabinet minister, accused Chinese authorities of killing Falun Gong practitioners and selling body parts to foreigners. China, which has banned the Falun Gong spiritual group since 1999, denies the claim.

As of February 2, 2007 there are 224 detainees in Villawood Immigration Detention Centre - making a total of 556 in Australia's IDCs.

---

Contact Ian Rintoul: irintoul@ozemail.com.au - Phone: 0417 275713.

Contact Villawood Immigration Detention Centre: Phone 02 8718 9220

---

Falun Gong has been the focus of international controversy since 1999, when the government of the People's Republic of China began a suppression of the movement. China claims to have banned the group for what it considers to be illegal activities. The Falun Gong claims that the ban was the result of personal jealousy of the group’s popularity on the part of Jiang Zemin, a former President of the People's Republic of China.

The suppression of Falun Gong practitioners has been regarded by most western governments as a major international human rights issue. As of December 2005, sixty-one lawsuits have been filed in about thirty countries charging Jiang and several other senior officials with genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity for their roles in the treatment of Falun Gong in mainland China.