Persecuted activist finally given asylum

Dutch officials have granted asylum to a Christian Chinese rights activist today after she was held in an immigration detention center in the Netherlands for the past few weeks.

The activist, Chen Yan, fled China in 2017 due to persecution she and her friends suffered for their human rights stances. She settled in the Netherlands, where she had been seeking asylum.

Shortly after Chen protested the visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, the Dutch authorities placed her under immigration detention. Chen feared she would be sent back to China, where she would have been in danger due to her activism.

Concerned about her case, ChinaAid and several other organizations partnered to lobby for her freedom. She was released from the immigration detention center on May 6.

Shortly after, her husband and brother were interrogated by Chinese officials for affiliation with her.

In a transcript of the interrogation between Chen’s husband and public security authorities in Honghu, Hubei province, the officials said Chen is suspected of “leading others to slander the nation overseas.” They then asked him details about how he contacted his wife and other various questions about her so-called “illegal actions.”