Activist refused entry at Narita Airport
Update: On Saturday, Kim Ae Hwa was allowed to enter Japan, after criticism mounted over the refusal earlier this week of her entry at the same airport. I'm glad to learn she challenged the system and won.
A South Korean civic group leader who arrived Wednesday at Narita airport, to participate in a Tokyo meeting of Asian nongovernmental organizations was refused permission to enter Japan, other participants of the meeting said Friday. The woman, Kim Ae Hwa, planned to discuss regional disparities and the protection of farmers in developing countries at the meeting to be held this weekend ahead of a Group of Eight summit in July in Japan.
Kim Ae Hwa, a representative from the Committee for Asian Women, planned to discuss regional disparities and the protection of farmers in developing countries, according to OANA:
Mary Lou Malig, a researcher at a private think tank in Thailand, told a press conference that the participants of the forum must look into why Kim was refused entry.
Japan is a democratic country and freedom of expression should be respected, Malig said, adding that excessive regulations are a problem and that the participants' activities are peaceful and directed at thinking about the plight of people suffering from poverty.
An official at the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau said, "We cannot comment about an individual case."
Kyodo notes that she returned home after being interviewed at Narita airport and told she had been refused entry.
The forum is organized by the G8 Action Network, which brings together various Japanese civic groups, including Consumers Union of Japan, Attac and People's Plan.
Call to action against the G8
Resisting Free Trade, Militarism and Fighting for Real Solutions to Climate Change
The G8 Summit will be held this year from July 7-9 in Toyako, Hokkaido, Japan. This will be a culmination of a series of ministerial preparation meeting beginning in March. The G8 Action Network, a network of various Japanese organizations and movements, is calling on all social movements, peasant organizations, women, migrants, urban and rural poor, fisherfolks and civil society from all over the world who are resisting free trade in its many forms, war and militarism, the privatization of essential services and natural resources, illegitimate debt and the domination of global finance, and fighting for and building real people based solutions to global warming, to come and join us in the week of action against the G8 here in Japan.
A South Korean civic group leader who arrived Wednesday at Narita airport, to participate in a Tokyo meeting of Asian nongovernmental organizations was refused permission to enter Japan, other participants of the meeting said Friday. The woman, Kim Ae Hwa, planned to discuss regional disparities and the protection of farmers in developing countries at the meeting to be held this weekend ahead of a Group of Eight summit in July in Japan.
Kim Ae Hwa, a representative from the Committee for Asian Women, planned to discuss regional disparities and the protection of farmers in developing countries, according to OANA:
Mary Lou Malig, a researcher at a private think tank in Thailand, told a press conference that the participants of the forum must look into why Kim was refused entry.
Japan is a democratic country and freedom of expression should be respected, Malig said, adding that excessive regulations are a problem and that the participants' activities are peaceful and directed at thinking about the plight of people suffering from poverty.
An official at the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau said, "We cannot comment about an individual case."
Kyodo notes that she returned home after being interviewed at Narita airport and told she had been refused entry.
The forum is organized by the G8 Action Network, which brings together various Japanese civic groups, including Consumers Union of Japan, Attac and People's Plan.
Call to action against the G8
Resisting Free Trade, Militarism and Fighting for Real Solutions to Climate Change
The G8 Summit will be held this year from July 7-9 in Toyako, Hokkaido, Japan. This will be a culmination of a series of ministerial preparation meeting beginning in March. The G8 Action Network, a network of various Japanese organizations and movements, is calling on all social movements, peasant organizations, women, migrants, urban and rural poor, fisherfolks and civil society from all over the world who are resisting free trade in its many forms, war and militarism, the privatization of essential services and natural resources, illegitimate debt and the domination of global finance, and fighting for and building real people based solutions to global warming, to come and join us in the week of action against the G8 here in Japan.
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