Dear Participant to the FoRB Roundtable Brussels-EU,

Dr Aaron Rhodes, President of FOREF Europe is circulating a letter in support of Baolige Wurina, a Chinese Citizen living in Sweden, who faces deportation.

From Dr Aaron Rhodes:
As you know, China continues what Human Rights Watch has called “the worst human rights crackdown in the post-Tiananmen period.  If Wurina is deported to China, he is almost certain to face incarceration and torture, and Sweden will have violated the European Convention on Human Rights.

Baolige fled to Sweden ten years ago from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China (IMAR), after facing persecution from Chinese authorities for his rights activism. Since arriving in Sweden, Swedish authorities have refused to grant him asylum and ordered his deportation. Baolige and his wife, together with their two children, are waiting now for the Migration Court of Appeal—the last instance to decide on asylum cases in Sweden—to decide whether he will be granted Swedish protection. If the court decides on deportation, the family will be split apart. While Baolige will be sent to China, his wife, who is Mongolian, will be sent to Mongolia with their children.

Swedish authorities claim that Baolige is unable to prove that Chinese authorities constitute a threat towards him personally, even though Baolige has continued his rights activism in Sweden. He has participated in protests against China in front of the Chinese embassy, where he says embassy staff photographed the protesters. Swedish authorities have rejected the claim as “speculation,” even though China is known for its surveillance and targeting of citizens who have fled the country.

 

CALL FOR SIGNATURES

  • View and read the original letter with 4 original signatures
    • Please let us know if your organization would like to sign on or if you will sign as an individual (with title and organization for identification purposes only), or both, by writing to contact@forbroundtable.org.
    • The deadline for signatures is the close of business on Monday, February 8, 2021

To inform your decision:

 

Statement of the EU Delegation in China on International Human Rights Day
“The EU… continues to be gravely concerned about the serious deterioration of the human rights situation in Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia [our emphasis]. In addition to reports on continued large-scale extra-judicial detentions, severe and systemic restrictions on freedom of expression and association, and on freedom of religion or belief, there are growing concerns about the alleged use of forced labour, forced family separations and forced sterilization.”

Source: https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/china-beijing/current/news/statement-of-the-eu-delegation-in-china-on-international-human-rights-day/

Activists face imprisonment and police stations in schools
Following the massive civil disobedience movement in Chinese-occupied Southern Mongolia sparked by the Chinese Central Government’s renewed attack on the Mongolian language, the authorities’ crackdown has intensified. An estimated 8,000–10,000 Southern Mongolians have been placed under some form of police custody since late August.
Source: https://www.smhric.org/news_683.htm

Source of the call: Freedom of Religion or Belief Roundtable, Brussels-EU