Two Filipino activists deported from Singapore

Two Filipino participants to a conference parallel to the annual World Bank-International Monetary Fund (WB-IMF) meetings that will be held in Singapore beginning today were denied passage through the city-state and sent back to the Philippines yesterday.

Chona Leah Ramos of the Jubilee South and Global Call to Action Against Poverty and Bobbie Diciembre of the Freedom from Debt Coalition were supposed to attend the International People’s Forum (IPF) in Batam, Indonesia but were denied entry into Singapore.

Civil society organizations opposed to the policies imposed by the WB and IMF decided to hold parallel activities in Batam because of Singapore’s no-rally policy. Participants to the IPF from the Philippines are traveling to Batam via Singapore.

"Until we boarded the plane bound for Manila, there was no clear explanation from Singapore police and immigration authorities on why they refused our entry," Diciembre said. "We wanted to know what violations we’ve committed based on their new immigration rules. But nobody among them answered. They just told us to write the immigration and checkpoints authority to inquire."

According to Marivic Raquiza, convener for GCAP-Asia, Ramos was denied passage through Singapore after airport authorities there learned during questioning that she was an IPF participant.

Raquiza told reporters that the Singaporean authorities merely told Ramos and Diciembre that they were "ineligible for the issue of a pass under current rule" of Singapore.

The two were reportedly interrogated and detained for five hours, and were made to sleep in the Traffic Singapore Air barracks.

"We are shocked by this news and we express our outrage at the way the Singaporean authorities have undermined the right of some civil society members to speak and gather freely," Raquiza said.

She said that, due to the "lack of democracy and the severe political restrictions that non-government organizations and citizens groups face in Singapore, they decided to organize civil society events parallel to the WB-IMF meetings in Batam, which is about 30 minutes away from Singapore by ferry.

The IPF will be conducted in Batam, Indonesia from Sept. 15 to 17. — Katherine Adraneda