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Filipino Refugees in the Netherlands (FREN)
30 August 2009
International Day of the Disappeared commemorated in the Netherlands
Utrecht, 30 August – Filipino refugees living in the Netherlands and Dutch
organization Aim for Human Rights gathered in the city of Utrecht on 29
August to commemorate the International Day of the Disappeared, echoing
the global call to ratify the UN Convention for the Protection of all
Persons against Enforced Disappearances and to stop enforced
disappearances worldwide.
Participants to the commemoration joined the throng of Saturday shoppers
in the city center, holding up photos of the disappeared and giving
passersby white balloons with photos and information about the
disappeared. Dave Hardy, member of Aim for Human Rights and coordinator
of the commemoration activity, led the participants in distributing 300
balloons and telling the stories of the disappeared.
Victims whose stories were heard included Jihad Eid of Lebanon, who
disappeared in 1990; agricultural technician Jonas Burgos of the
Philippines who was abducted in Manila in April 2007; and indigenous
people's leader James Moy Balao, missing since 17 September 2008.
The balloons were later simultaneously released, symbolizing the
aspiration that their stories should be spread ever wider, and not to be
forgotten. The Filipino refugees and Aim for Human Rights were also joined
by HIJOS, families of the disappeared in Argentina, and students from
Indonesia.
“It was an effective and successful action,” Mitchie Mallorca Saturay, one
of the event's participant, observed. “We need to ensure that the stories
of the disappeared are kept alive... We were able to inform a wide public,
here in Utrecht, that enforced disappearances is still happening in the
Philippines.”
“It is heartwarming to see that the Dutch public and Aim for Human Rights
are concerned about the victims of disappearances and the loved ones they
left behind,” said Angie Gonzales, member of Filipino Refugees in the
Netherlands. “I heard expressions of sympathy and good wishes from quite a
number of ordinary passersby today... they understood the barbarity of the
abductions and they sympathize with those who are left behind, not knowing
if they will ever see their loved ones again.”
Asked why he joined the event, FREN member Boyen Baleva explained, “I know
James Balao personally, he is a close friend of mine... I was also a
victim of abduction and torture in June 2001 by elements of the 17th
Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army. I consider myself lucky that I
was surfaced after five days, that I can tell my story myself.”
“It is appalling to hear that not a single official of the Arroyo
government has been held accountable for the disappearance of more than
200 persons since 2001,” Baleva continued. “Arroyo officials express
satisfaction whenever one of their own is exonerated, as if to say that
keeping cases of enforced disappearances unsolved makes them happy.”
Mrs. Editha Burgos, mother of Jonas Burgos and Chairperson of
Desaparecidos, is scheduled to visit several countries in Europe in
October and November for a speaking tour. She was invited by several human
rights organizations in the continent to shed more light on the phenomenon
of enforced disappearances in the Philippines, especially under the
current Gloria Arroyo government.
Reference:
Boyen Baleva
Filipino Refugees in the Netherlands
fil.refugee@gmail.com
+31 6 51331013
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