- Target:
- UK Government, UKBA (UK Border Authority)
- Region:
- United Kingdom
- Website:
- www.facebook.com
Li Zheng is a Chinese national who is claiming asylum in the UK on the basis that she is a member of a persecuted group within her native China, and thus, if deported, could face persecution by the authorities which may result in her arbitrary detention, torture, or even execution.
She has - as of Friday, 3 July 2009 - once again been detained when reporting to the UKBA (UK Border Authority), as required by the asylum process. She is now threatened with deportation on Tuesday, 7 July 2009.
Please join us URGENTLY in petitioning the UK government and UKBA (UK Border Agency) to release Li Zheng from detention immediately, cease all actions directed toward her deportation, and grant her permanent asylum within the UK, to which she can legitimately lay claim, as outlined below.
Li Zheng is, demonstrably, a devoted practitioner of the Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) spiritual practice. There is a wealth of evidence that followers of Falun Gong face persecution by the authorities in their native China which can, and has, resulted in arbitrary detention, torture, and even death; as documented by:
Amnesty International
(http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA17/011/2000)
The Telegraph
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5213629/Falun-Gong-growing-in-China-despite-10-year-ban.html)
The Times
(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/china/article3779899.ece)
Falun Dafa Info Center
http://www.faluninfo.net/topic/154/
Those residents of the UK (including British nationals such as I, Matt Bensted) who know Li Zheng on a one-to-one basis, and/ or as the mother of Meng "Coco" Tian, can testify that she is as a woman of impeccable character, and a regular attendee of Falun Gong practice sessions, conventions, and protests.
The UKBA's own website states clearly that:
"To be recognised as a refugee, you must have left your country and be unable to go back because you have a well-founded fear of persecution.
"The United Kingdom also adheres to the European Convention on Human Rights, which prevents us sending someone to a country where there is a real risk they will be exposed to torture, or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
Ms Li Zheng clearly fulfils these criteria, and we ask that the goverment grants her the asylum to which she is so clearly entitled.
We, the undersigned, petition the UK government and UKBA (UK Border Authority) to: release Li Zheng from detention immediately; cease all actions directed toward her deportation; and grant her permanent asylum within the UK.
Ms Li Zheng is a devoted practitioner of Falun Gong, which means she faces a real risk of arbitrary detention, torture, and even execution in her native China. Therefore, she can legitimately lay claim to asylum in accordance with both stated UKBA policy, and the European Convention on Human Rights.
With the above in mind, I ask that the UK government grants her the asylum to which she is so clearly entitled.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Cease deportation of, and grant asylum to, Li Zheng petition to UK Government, UKBA (UK Border Authority) was written by Matt Bensted and is in the category Human Rights at GoPetition.