Philippine activists deported

PHILIPPINE: Six Philippine activists who had planned to take part in alternative meetings that are set to run parallel to the G20 summit in South Korea have been deported from Seoul, their colleagues said Sunday.

All six were put on a flight back to Manila late Saturday after being told by South Korean authorities that they were blacklisted and could not enter the country, the activists said.

“We condemn this unwarranted hostile act of the South Korean government towards Filipino activists,” said Judy Pasimio of the Manila-based Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center.

One of those deported, Maria Lorena Macabuag of the group Migrant Forum Asia, said they were only attending a peaceful parallel forum and had not broken any law.

“We were just informed that we were blacklisted by the South Korean government and that we are not allowed to enter Korea,” she said in a statement.

“We asked for a written explanation why we were blacklisted. They told us they will get back to us.”

South Korean police and military have been on high alert after activists said they expected up to 20,000 people to join a protest march on Thursday at the start of the two-day Group of 20 summit.

Manila, Sunday, AFP