6 Pinoy activists ‘blacklisted,’ deported by SoKor officials

(Updated 4:35 p.m.) As South Korea tightens security measures in preparation for the semiannual G-20 summit, six Filipino activists were deported after being detained at the Incheon International Airport in Seoul late Saturday. The six Filipinos barred from entering South Korea and supposedly “blacklisted" by the South Korean government, are:

• Maria Lorena Macabuag, Migrant Forum Asia
• Josua Mata, Alliance of Progressive Labor
• Joseph Purugganan, Focus on the Global South-Philippines (FGSP)
• Jesus Manuel Santiago, activist poet-musician
• Roger Soluta, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU)
• Paul Quintos, IBON Foundation

Quintos had reportedly been detained at the airport since arriving in Seoul late Friday, while the others arrived in South Korea Saturday afternoon. The activists were forced to take a 9:30 p.m. flight back to Manila on Saturday. They asked for a written explanation from the Korean government as to why they were "blacklisted," but airport authorities would not grant their request, Macabuag told GMANews.TV in a text message. They were even refused the right to be represented by lawyers or officials of the Philippine Embassy in South Korea while being questioned at the immigration office in Incheon International Airport, said Mata. "We are disappointed that the [Philippine] government hasn't expressed any diplomatic protest against South Korea," Purugganan told GMANews.TV during a press briefing this Sunday. So far, the Aquino administration has "not show[n] an inch of concern to us," Mata added.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV According to a statement by KMU late Saturday, the six were supposed to participate in planned demonstrations and attend a “people’s summit" organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions as a parallel meeting of NGOs and civil society organizations coinciding with the G-20 summit. Soluta and Qunitos were also scheduled to speak at international forums, including a conference of the Southern Initiative on Globalization and Trade Union Rights, the press release stated. All six of them carried visas and other documents necessary to enter South Korea. Shabby treatment Three of the activists — Mata, Purugganan, and Santiago — said during the briefing that they will ask the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to file a formal diplomatic protest against the Republic of Korea. They will also seek the DFA’s help in getting an explanation from South Korean authorities as to why they were “blacklisted" and barred at the airport. In the press briefing, the activists said that they saw militant activists from Malaysia and Indonesia who were allowed to enter South Korea, while several people from Vietnam were also denied entry. “Is there discrimination?" Purungganan asked. In a separate release, FGSP said they were “baffled as to why the Korean government kept Purugganan from participating in a legitimate event organized by a Korean organization. He was given a visa when he applied at the Korean Embassy in the Philippines, where he was given no indication of being blacklisted or would be maltreated when he arrived in Seoul." "Hindi makatarungan na hindi man lang sila nagpaliwanag sa 'min kung bakit nila kami kinaladkad papuntang eroplano pabalik ng Manila (It’s not justifiable that they didn’t even explain to us why they dragged us up to the airplane back to Manila)," said Mata. Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told GMANews.TV that the government is "still looking at what had transpired in South Korea." “We condemn the shabby treatment by the Korean Immigration Police of Mr. Purugganan and the other Filipinos. They have not done and do not intend to do anything wrong, and thus did not deserve such disrespect," said Jenina Joy Chavez, Philippine Coordinator of Focus on the Global South. “The incident is a foreign affairs matter which the Philippine government should address. Our government should not allow any Filipino to be treated this way," Chavez added. GMANews.TV contacted the South Korean embassy in Manila by phone, but an embassy official declined to comment. Traditional protests “The workers and peoples of the world have every reason to protest the coming G-20 Summit. We know that we are on the agenda, as resources to be exploited and oppressed," said KMU chairman Elmer Labog. The G-20 summit of leaders of the world’s developed and emerging economies — including China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and South Africa — is scheduled from November 11 to 12 in Seoul. In Seoul, the police have been placed on the highest alert level against possible violence and terror threats. No rallies and demonstrations are allowed within a 2-km radius of the G-20 summit's venue. The first round of the 2010 summit was held in Toronto, Canada from June 26 to 27. Starting 2011, the G-20 summit will be held once a year. Global summits of world leaders, such as G-8 meetings and earlier G-20 conferences, have traditionally drawn tens of thousands of protesters who air an alternative agenda, which host countries counter by beefing up security forces and measures. Coverage of the earlier G-20 summit in Canada focused on the violence that broke out when a group of protesters broke off from a crowd of peaceful demonstrators and clashed with riot police. Several police cars were burned, and several establishments were vandalized, leading to the arrest of over 1,000 protesters. — VS, GMANews.TV