Worsening human rights in China see Falun Gong couple granted refugee status

A worsening human rights situation in China has prompted a tribunal to grant refugee status in New Zealand to a couple who were previously rejected.

The Immigration and Protection Tribunal said the husband and wife, both Chinese citizens, would have been photographed by Chinese agents while practising the religion Falun Gong in Auckland.

“There is a real chance of [them] being persecuted if they attempt to practise Falun Gong openly in China,” the tribunal decision said.

The husband and wife, who are in their 50s but were not identified in the decision, first applied for refugee status in 2019. They had arrived in New Zealand on visitors’ visas to see an adult daughter in 2016.

They first claimed refugee status in 2017, when a tribunal did not accept at that time that they were genuine or committed practitioners of Falun Gong, which they had then recently joined.

Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, is a religious and philosophical movement opposed to the Chinese Communist Party, and which has been banned in China.

Since their first application, the husband and wife have become more involved with Falun Gong, studying, promoting the movement at a weekly market, distributing a newspaper and attending group sessions outside the Chinese consulate.

They reapplied for refugee status, were turned down by officials and appealed to the tribunal, which this time accepted them as refugees.

The decision said there had been a “material change” in the couple’s situation, but not because of their deepening understanding of and involvement in Falun Gong.

“[This change] arises from the worsening human rights situation in China, the concerning increase in the authoritarian crackdown on dissent in any form which has arisen in the last few years, and an expansion of mass surveillance.”

It said the couple’s predicament had been worsened by attending exercise sessions and protests outside the Chinese consulate in Auckland.

These gatherings had been photographed by “persons believed to be agents of the Chinese consulate”.

“The tribunal find that, on return to China, the appellants will be arbitrarily detained and physically mistreated,” the decision stated.

“The justice system in China does not observe human rights or internationally accepted standards of fairness.

“Their conviction by a court for being Falun Gong practitioners and a lengthy incarceration for ‘re-education’ will be inevitable.”

The tribunal determined the husband and wife should both be recognised as refugees.