25 May 2011

ZZZ103741.E

Canada/China: The Falun Dafa Association of Canada (FDAC); requirements for membership in the FDAC; whether there are genuine Falun Dafa practitioners who are not members of the FDAC; the process undertaken by the FDAC when someone requests a letter vouching for them as a genuine Falun Gong practitioner
Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

Falun Dafa Association of Canada

In 11 May 2011 correspondence with the Research Directorate, a representative of the Falun Dafa Association of Canada (FDAC) stated that all Falun Dafa Associations (FDAs) in various Canadian cities fall under the FDAC. He further noted that the FDAC "represents the voice of the Falun Gong community on a national level whereas each individual [FDA] in each city represents the Falun Gong community on local matters, including local refugee issues" (FDAC 11 May 2011). In addition, the representative emphasized that FDAs are "the only official organizations representing Falun Gong practitioners in Canada. There is no other splinter group of Falun Gong that exists" (ibid.). Furthermore, FDAs in Canada are registered non-profit organizations within the country and are "independent from [FDAs] in other countries," though there is a level of "coordination and communication" between them "when necessary" (ibid.).

In a 12 May 2011 telephone interview, the FDAC representative said that the FDA does not have a "voting structure" or paperwork; it is a "tight-knit" group that only allows people it knows to join (FDAC 12 May 2011).

FDAs were originally formed by veteran Falun Gong practitioners to create awareness about the "persecution" of practitioners in China and to provide an official forum for interacting with society, for example, when holding public events (FDAC 12 May 2011).

The FDAC representative said that someone qualifies as a veteran practitioner through "the diligence and time they take in teaching [Falun Gong] and participating in [Falun Dafa] events" (ibid.). The representative expressed the opinion that a veteran practitioner needs to have practiced for four to five years and possess an "in-depth understanding," as well as follow the tenets, of Falun Gong (ibid.).

In 19 May 2011 correspondence with the Research Directorate, the FDAC representative included a document entitled "Notification for Practitioners of Falun Dafa," which outlines the basic requirements for practicing Falun Gong as follows:

   1. Falun Dafa is a cultivation way of the Buddhist system. No one is allowed to propagate any religions under the guise of practicing Falun Dafa.
   2. All Falun Dafa cultivators must strictly observe the laws of their countries of residence. Any conduct that violates a country's policies or regulations would directly oppose the merits and virtues of Falun Dafa. The individual concerned is responsible for the violation and all of its consequences.
   3. All Falun Dafa cultivators should actively uphold the unity of the cultivation community, doing their share for the development of humankind's traditional culture.
   4. Students, as well as assistants and disciples, of Falun Dafa are forbidden to treat people's health problems without approval from the founder and shifu of Falun Dafa, or without obtaining permission from appropriate authorities. Furthermore, no one can just decide to accept money or gifts for treating people.
   5. Students of Falun Dafa should take cultivation of character as the essence of our practice. They are absolutely not allowed to intervene in a country's political affairs, and moreover, they are prohibited from getting involved in any kind of political disputes or activities. Those who violate this rule are no longer Falun Dafa disciples. The individual concerned should be responsible for all consequences. A cultivator's fundamental aspiration is to progress with diligence in real cultivation and to reach Perfection as soon as possible.

Membership in the FDAC

In 19 May 2011 correspondence with the Research Directorate, the FDAC representative stated that

[t]he vast majority of Falun Gong practitioners who attend our group exercise/worship activities on a weekly basis and who are very involved in the community of practitioners are considered members of the FDAC. Those practitioners who do not attend our community regularly are practitioners but they do not belong to the FDAC.

The FDAC representative also added that they do not keep lists with the names of FDAC members (12 May 2011).

Executive members

The FDAs, according to the FDAC representative, are formed by "Falun Gong executive coordinators who are veteran practitioners" (FDAC 11 May 2011). This particular group of veteran practitioners, also known as the FDA executive members,

have volunteered much effort to help to organize activities and make representations to various levels of government and society to advocate for the end of the persecution and the protection of Falun Gong practitioners as well as their right to practice their beliefs freely without interference. (ibid.)

In his 19 May 2011 correspondence, the FDAC representative also stated that

executive members are those in the Association that are seen as organizers or assistants who are very trusted and long term veteran practitioners and who devote their time to coordinating and organizing events and projects within the community of practitioners.

According to the FDAC representative, the executive members represent the organization and "speak on behalf" of it (19 May 2011).

The FDAC representative indicated that the "veteran practitioners are recommended by the region and become the executive members of the [FDA] of the region to represent the community" (FDAC 11 May 2011). The representative added that new executive members are "recommended" and "chosen by other executive members" (ibid. 12 May 2011). As an example, the FDAC representative explained that a veteran practitioner could be chosen to become an executive member if he or she had "strong contacts with Western practitioners" (ibid.). However, the FDAC representative noted that new executive members have not been chosen for a "long time," and that for about 10 years the same executive has remained in place (ibid.).

There is no official identification for the executive members of the FDA (FDAC 11 May 2011). The representative also noted that members of different Canadian FDAs know each other "very well" and have "excellent" communication (ibid. 12 May 2011). He added that the executive members are "well known and trusted by the regional practitioners" (ibid. 11 May 2011).

In his correspondence, the FDAC representative emphasized that

genuine practitioners often times refer to the membership of the FDA as only being the executive members of the FDA and they refer to the practitioners within the community on a whole as the "Falun Gong community", but actually practitioners within the community are also members of the FDA. (ibid. 19 May 2011)

The FDAC representative indicated that Falun Gong practitioners can participate in FDA events without being members (ibid. 12 May 2011). Additionally, any person can join Falun Gong and practice it (ibid.).

Letters of support for Falun Gong practitioners

One of the mandates of the FDA is to

support refugee claimants in Canada whom the [FDAs] know to be genuine practitioners and would be at high risk of persecution if returned to China. The [FDAs] help these claimants by either writing a support letter in the name of the ... Association and/or by attending the claimants hearing as a witness. (FDAC 11 May 2011)

The FDAC also adds that its credibility is very important because it can save "the lives of genuine practitioners" who risk persecution if returned to China (ibid.). They therefore only provide support only to practitioners who are "known" to them, taking "serious steps to determine the validity of each individual claim" before agreeing to support them (ibid.).

In his 19 May 2011 correspondence, the FDAC representative noted that the FDAC

has the advantage of having sources in China that help to verify some claimants. For others, claimants informally approach the FDA's Executive members. The FDA does not agree or disagree to support at that time as the claimant has not proven him or her self to the FDA executive assistants. The FDA then observes the claimant over an extended period of time to assess the claimant's understanding and application of Falun Gong principles and if the claimant holds their thoughts and actions to the standard of the Falun Gong teachings which are unique to the practice of Falun Gong ... .

The FDAC indicates that the executive members of the FDA "have the expertise and the opportunity to observe claimants over an extended period of time" (FDAC 11 May 2011). This is done through "weekly exercises and study sessions" held by regional Falun Gong communities (ibid.).

The representative emphasized that the FDA only gets involved in the cases of practitioners that they are familiar with (FDAC 11 May 2011). However, he conceded that membership in the FDA is not a requirement to be a genuine Falun Gong practitioner (FDAC 19 May 2011). In addition, he said that a case cannot be considered fraudulent if the FDAC is not involved; it must be evaluated through independent determination (FDAC 19 May 2011).

The FDAC representative provided the following list of FDA "executive members responsible for signing support letters and/or offering in-person testimony": Lucy Zhou (Ottawa); Chengzhi (Charlie) Jin (Montreal); Joel Chipkar (Toronto); John Zhang (Toronto); Jeffrey Yang (Calgary); Shar Chen (Edmonton); Sue Zhang (Vancouver) (11 May 2011). He added that the group will notify the Research Directorate if there are any changes (FDAC 11 May 2011).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Falun Dafa Association of Canada (FDAC). 19 May 2011. Correspondence from a representative to the Research Directorate.

_____. 12 May 2011. Telephone interview with a representative.

_____. 11 May 2011. Correspondence from a representative to the Research Directorate.

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites, including: Asia Society; Asia Times; Asian Human Rights Commission; Asian Survey; British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC); Clearwisdom.net; Epoch Times; European Country of Origin Information Network (ecoi.net); Factiva; Falun Dafa Association; Human Rights Watch; International Crisis Group; United Kingdom Border Agency; United Nations (UN) Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN), RefWorld, ReliefWeb.