Three Falun Gong refugee applicants have been expelled from South Korea after their applications were declined by the Ministry of Justice. The applicants say they had fled China under threat of incarceration and torture by the Chinese Communist regime.
Two of the applicants, a husband and wife, are ethnic Koreans of Chinese nationality, while the third is a middle aged Han Chinese woman. The couple was expelled on July 20th, while the third was expelled on July 8th.
According to the Korea Falun Dafa Association, the South Korean Ministry of Justice has rejected all applications for refugee status, with only one exception. A total of ten Falun Gong practitioners have been expelled to mainland China by the Korean government since 2009.
The Korea Falun Dafa Association stated: “The Korean Government is a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment... this is an obvious offense against this convention because these expelled Falun Gong practitioners may face torture, degrading treatment or punishment should they be returned to China.”
The United States and Canada have granted refugee status to almost all Falun Gong refugee applications. Japan hasn’t granted refugee status to any Chinese Falun Gong practitioners, but has permitted their continued residence until the persecution of Falun Gong in mainland China ends.
Mr. Oh Seyeol, spokesman for the Korea Falun Dafa Association said: “We think that the Korean Government’s attitude will change because now all over the world, including America, are dealing with the oppression of human rights of Falun Gong practitioners importantly and are now paying attention to the problem.”
“Also, by the immigration control law renewed in 2009, the Ministry of Justice of Korea can give temporary legal status to the person concerned on humanitarian grounds though the person is not a refugee.”
Mr. Oh has submitted a petition calling for an end to the expulsion of Falun Gong Practitioners to mainland China. It was submitted to the office of National Human Rights Commission of Korean and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
Meanwhile, the number of applications for refugee status to South Korea was 2915 at the end of last year. Only 222 of those applications were successful.
According to the Korean refugee organization NANCEN, Korea has the lowest number of refugees in relation to population among the 34 OECD countries.
Sweden has the highest with 8000 refugees per million citizens followed closely by Germany which has 7000. Meanwhile, the United States has 80 and Japan has 10 per million. Korea has only 5 refugees per million citizens.
The Falun Dafa-backed website, Clearwisdom.net has documented approximately 3433 Falun Gong practitioners’ deaths by torture or the lingering effects of torture.
Two of the applicants, a husband and wife, are ethnic Koreans of Chinese nationality, while the third is a middle aged Han Chinese woman. The couple was expelled on July 20th, while the third was expelled on July 8th.
According to the Korea Falun Dafa Association, the South Korean Ministry of Justice has rejected all applications for refugee status, with only one exception. A total of ten Falun Gong practitioners have been expelled to mainland China by the Korean government since 2009.
The Korea Falun Dafa Association stated: “The Korean Government is a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment... this is an obvious offense against this convention because these expelled Falun Gong practitioners may face torture, degrading treatment or punishment should they be returned to China.”
The United States and Canada have granted refugee status to almost all Falun Gong refugee applications. Japan hasn’t granted refugee status to any Chinese Falun Gong practitioners, but has permitted their continued residence until the persecution of Falun Gong in mainland China ends.
Mr. Oh Seyeol, spokesman for the Korea Falun Dafa Association said: “We think that the Korean Government’s attitude will change because now all over the world, including America, are dealing with the oppression of human rights of Falun Gong practitioners importantly and are now paying attention to the problem.”
“Also, by the immigration control law renewed in 2009, the Ministry of Justice of Korea can give temporary legal status to the person concerned on humanitarian grounds though the person is not a refugee.”
Mr. Oh has submitted a petition calling for an end to the expulsion of Falun Gong Practitioners to mainland China. It was submitted to the office of National Human Rights Commission of Korean and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
Meanwhile, the number of applications for refugee status to South Korea was 2915 at the end of last year. Only 222 of those applications were successful.
According to the Korean refugee organization NANCEN, Korea has the lowest number of refugees in relation to population among the 34 OECD countries.
Sweden has the highest with 8000 refugees per million citizens followed closely by Germany which has 7000. Meanwhile, the United States has 80 and Japan has 10 per million. Korea has only 5 refugees per million citizens.
The Falun Dafa-backed website, Clearwisdom.net has documented approximately 3433 Falun Gong practitioners’ deaths by torture or the lingering effects of torture.
