REFUGEE REFERRAL FOR LIU BAOSHUN AND WIFE GAO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 001239 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/A DHS FO RBCIS OFFICE OF ASYLUM, REFUGEES AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2017 TAGS: PREF PHUM TH BMGT SUBJECT: REFUGEE REFERRAL FOR LIU BAOSHUN AND WIFE GAO JINYING Classified By: DEPUTY POLITICAL COUNSELOR DAVID GREENBERG, REASON 1.4 ( B, D) ¶1. (U) This is an action request. See para 8. ¶2. (C) Post is referring Chinese citizens, Mr. Liu Baoshun and his wife Gao Jinying, for resettlement to the United States through the Department's Refugee Resettlement Program. Biographical information follows: Name: Liu Baoshu D/POB: February 2, 1942, Shandong Province, China Nationality: Chinese Gender: Male Name: Gao Jinying D/POB: January 29, 1945, Shandong Province, China Nationality: Chinese Gender: Female Persecution Claim -------------- ¶3. (C) Mr. Liu Baoshun (LB) was a well-known sculptor within his community in Hubei Province, China, and his wife Gao Jingying (GJ) worked for the local government in the forestation department. The couple began practicing Falun Gong in 1994. Over the years, they became increasingly fervent in their practice and GJ became a Falung Gonmg leader in the local community. The well-documented crackdown of Falun Gong in July 1999 and their subsequent arrests and hardships caused the couple to flee China and reunite in Bangkok in 2006. ¶4. (C) On April 24, 1999, prior to fleeing China, the couple and approximately 800 others from their town traveled to Beijing to protest against the mistreatment and imprisonment of Falung Gong practitioners. Falun Gong practitioners met with the then Chinese Premier, Zhu Rongji, who agreed to release the previously arrested practitioners. Over the next three months, however, the couple was repeated harassed by government officials. On July 20, 1999, while LB was in Shandong Province working on a sculpture project, police officers stormed their house and arrested GJ. She was taken to a small prison where she was held for six months before being released on January 8, 2000. While in prison, GJ was forced to slander Falun Gong. GJ resisted. After GJ's imprisonment, she was released and placed under house arrest for an additional year. While his wife was in prison, LB was also targeted by the government. The authorities repeatedly pressured him to leave the Falun Gong faith, and he was also not allowed to display his sculptures in local exhibitions. ¶5. (C) When GJ finished her house arrest term in early 2002, she and her husband traveled to Shandong Province before making their way to Shenzhen city, where they stayed with their daughter. They spent the next several months traveling to various cities in an attempt to avoid Chinese authorities. By July 2002, the authorities discovered the couple's whereabouts and arrrested them in Shenzhen city. The couple was then transported to Handang city in Hubei Province, where they were separated and subjected to brainwashing classes. LB was handcuffed to his bed for two months in order to be "re-educated," while his wife, a more fervent practitioner and local Falun Gong leader, was deprived of sleep and interrogated three times a day. Due to GJ's poor health, she was then taken to a local hospital for medical treatment. On August 22, 2002, GJ escaped from the hospital and traveled to Shandong Province, hoping to re-unite with her husband, who was still in prison at that time. ¶6. (C) LB was released from prison in September 2002, afterwhich he fled to Hong Kong, where he was able to obtain a tourist visa to Thailand. He arrived in Bangkok on July 18, 2003. He was granted refugee status on August 5, 2005. LB's wife, GJ, spent four years moving around China to avoid recapture by Chinese authorities. She eventually made contact with her daughter, who informed her mother that LB was in Thailand. GJ then traveled through Shanxi Province and entered Thaland via Burma. LB and GJ were re-united in BANGKOK 00001239 002 OF 002 Bangkok with the assistance of the Falun Gong network in Thailand. Need for Resettlement to to the U.S. -------------- ¶7. (C) Given that LB and GJ would likely be imprisoned and "re-educated" again if they were to return to China, they are requesting resettlement to the U.S. There is no durable solution available to LB and GJ in Thailand. ¶8. (C) Post supports this referral. Please provide guidance on whether post should take further steps in processing this case for U.S. resettlement. BOYCE