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