Rescue Melbourne Resident from Being Deported to China

MELBOURNE (FDI) 31/05/2005 – Melbourne Falun Gong practitioners will
hold an appeal outside the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre where Mr.
Tang Xianhui is being held. Mr. Tang has been refused refugee status by the Department
of Immigration (DIMIA) and as a last resort, he has appealed to Immigration Minister
Amanda Vanstone to intervene and grant him refugee status.

Mr. Tang Xianhui,
a former democracy activist and current Falun Gong practitioner of six years,
has been blacklisted in China for his democratic activities several years ago
and is currently facing severe persecution for his practice of Falun Gong if he
is deported back to China.

Mr. Tang was placed detention yesterday afternoon.

The Department of Immigration has so far refused to accept the evidence
that anyone who practices Falun Gong in China will be persecuted. DIMIA employees
maintain that only “Falun Gong leaders” will be persecuted. Falun Gong
has no leadership hierarchy and anyone who speaks up about the human rights crisis
in China is considered a ‘leader’ of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party
government.

Evidence as reported to the United Nations

Both the Refugee
Review Tribunal and the DIMIA have received ample evidence that demonstrates that
anyone who practices Falun Gong is at risk of being persecuted in China.

For
more information please see Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group website http://www.flghrwg.net
The website documents detailed cases of abuses as they have been reported to the
United Nations.

Human Rights Appeal
Maribyrnong
Immigration Detention Centre (IDC)
53 Hampstead Road, Maidstone VIC 3012
Phone:
03 9318 1999