This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 9, April 2-8, 2006
International Groups Denounce
Deportation of Bangladeshi Peasant Leader
By Gerry Albert
Corpuz Protest in Nepal, India Lauron said that Alam was
invited to join a meeting of PCFS and APC. Alam, as vice chairperson of APC,
will facilitate the International Tribunal on International Rice Research
Institute on April 4 sponsored by APC. © 2006 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
Can a
foreigner be barred for entering the Philippines because of his or her previous
participation in a protest action here? The answer is yes, going by the
experience of a Bangladeshi peasant leader who was deported last March 30 even
if his travel papers were in order.
Bulatlat
Three international groups asked the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to
investigate Philippine immigration officials for the "extremely undemocratic"
deportation of a Bangladeshi peasant activist who was barred from entering the
country last March 30.
The Asian Peasant Coalition (APC), the Asia-Pacific Research Network (APRN) and
the People's Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS) will file a petition in the
CHR to look into the violations committed by local immigration officials in
denying the entry of Badrul Alam, chairperson of Bangladesh Krishok Federation,
to the Philippines to attend a meeting of Asian agricultural producers.
Last year's Nobel Peace Prize nominee and social activist Dr. Irene Fernandez of
Malaysia said that the Philippine government violated the fundamental rights of
Alam like the right to association and freedom of assembly, saying the APC would
also bring the current wave of deportation of peasant activists before the
United Nations High Commission on Human Rights. "Badrul is not a terrorist or a
convicted criminal. He is an internationally known peasant activist highly
regarded in the international community for his unwavering advocacy of peasant
rights."
For his part, Prem Dangal of Nepal and APC chairperson said that the Philippine
consulate in Dhaka, Bangladesh approved Alam's visa, proving that his entry to
the country is legal, moral and official and he did not apply as tourist,
contrary to claims of immigration officials here.
Ferdinand Sampol, NAIA immigration officer, said that Alam was deported because
he was on the immigration blacklist for joining an October 2005 peasant rally in
Recto, Manila. He stressed that the Bangladeshi peasant activist violated one of
the conditions of his stay in the country last year.
However, Dangal said that Alam was on an official visit last year because he
applied for a visa and was approved by the Philippine consulate in Dhaka. He
said that the Bangladeshi peasant leader also went through the same rigorous
process when he traveled to the country to join an international meeting on food
sovereignty sponsored by APRN scheduled from March 30 to April 3, 2006.
"This is over and above political harassment. This is political discrimination
and repression rolled into one and executed by the very hostile administration
of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. We condemn this act to the highest order,"
Dangal said.
Dangal said that his group in Nepal, the All Nepal Peasant Association (ANPA),
will hold a rally on April 1 in Katmandu, Nepal to condemn Alam’s deportation.
He expects more than 5,000 farmers to participate. Another protest will be held
in India, according to Fatima Burnad, leader of all peasant women group India.
She said that mass actions will also be held Dhaka by farmers to protest the
deportation of Alam.
The show must go on
APRN board member and APC leader Biplab Halim, an organizer of the scheduled
meeting on food sovereignty, said that the meeting of food sovereignty and
peasant rights advocates will push through despite the deportation of Alam,
saying the Philippine government should respect their global advocacy against
poverty. "Our colleague Badrul Alam wants this meeting to push through. We will
proceed with our mission come what may. The show must go on."
Halim said Alam and other foreign social activists who are planning to come to
the Philippines for international solidarity work must be removed from the
blacklist of the local immigration agency, stressing that the right of
democratic people to free movement must be respected and guaranteed at all
times.
He said it was unfortunate President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo prevented the
Bangladeshi peasant activist from entering the country. "There is nothing in any
international or local law that says expressing solidarity with the poor is a
crime."
APRN General Secretary Teresa Lauron said that the Arroyo administration seems
to be afraid of its own shadow for blacklisting an innocent peasant leader like
Alam.
She said that immigration officials did not bother to explain to Alam why he was
blacklisted. "If he turned out to be blacklisted, the Philippine embassy should
have not have given him a visa from Bangladesh in the first place."
Map of global repression
For his part, APC and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, Peasant Movement of
the Philippines) Secretary General Danilo Ramos said that the deportation of
Alam was another political black eye on President Arroyo before the
international community. "The international community will label this as another
political persecution of people fighting for land rights and state repression by
the corrupt, illegal, puppet and immoral regime of President Arroyo. The
deportation of comrade Alam by the Philippine government will amplify calls to
put the Arroyo administration on the map of global repression."
Ramos said that he would ask peasant organizations in Malaysia, Indonesia,
India, Thailand, Bangladesh and Nepal, as well as like-minded organizations in
France, Brazil, Vietnam, South Korea, China, Japan, Mongolia, Mexico, Venezuela
and Cuba to immediately write the Philippine Office of the President, the Bureau
of Immigration and Deportation and the Department of Justice collectively
condemning the "grossly immoral, inhuman and illegal deportation” of the
Bangladesh peasant leader.
The KMP leader said they will hold a dialogue with the Bangladeshi embassy in
Manila next week to inform embassy officials about what happened to Alam, saying
the Philippine immigration officials did not even inform the Bangladeshi
diplomatic officials in Manila about the deportation of the peasant leader.
Bulatlat