Apr 06, 2005

UN delegates discuss the situation of children being persecuted in China. (Epoch Times)

GENEVA - A special agenda item was discussed during this year's Human Rights Convention at the United Nations. For the first time, consideration has been given to rescuing children persecuted in China, such as the children of Falun Gong practitioners and underground Christians.

During the meeting, Ms. Xue Huiying, a representative from the "Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners" (GMR) reported on how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has persecuted Falun Gong practitioners over the past five years. She reported that the number of verified deaths had risen to at least 1,520, but that internal information from the government puts the number at over 10,000. "The cases of the orphans of some these Falun Gong practitioners are even more tragic," she said. "They are forced to live with their often elderly grandparents. Many children do not have sufficient access to finances to maintain their lives and often lose their chances of getting an education.

Delegates of the United Nations listen to how children are being affected due to persecution of spiritual faiths in Communist China. (Epoch Times)

Some children cannot even live with their direct relatives and those kind people who have adopted them, and are often themselves threatened by the police. Under such pressure, children have no sense of safety. Some children have been sent to orphanages." Ms. Xue called for the rescue of these orphans and for the provision of basic living standards, education, health and safety, so that they may try be able to lead a normal life.

The meeting was chaired by Mr. Francis Madore, who showed the audience a TV program made by GMR about rescuing these orphans. People were moved to tears at seeing the helplessness of innocent young children after losing their parents. Besides her own personal tragic story of torture at the hands of the authorities, Ms. Chen Ying also spoke of the misery of two one-year-old orphans of Falun Gong practitioners, Jin Panpan and Liu Shuangshuang. Both of their parents have died as a result of the persecution against Falun Gong. "A tragedy has beset these children when they are still too young to understand their plight," she said.

Delegates watch a video that shows how the persecution of Falun Gong practititioners and Christians has affected children. (Epoch Times)

Ms. Liu Xianzhi, a member of the underground Christian movement who escaped from China after being incarcerated for six years, spoke about the persecution of some young Chinese Christians. In one incident, over 20 children were suddenly surrounded by the police, brought to the police department and then incarcerated for three months, where they suffered inhumane tortures simply for listening to their teacher telling stories about Jesus.

Many attendees thanked the presenters and organizers for telling the truth about the plight of these children. Others asked what they could do to help the orphans.

Source: http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-4-6/27667.html