World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz has lobbied Singapore’s prime minister about the treatment of civil society organisation representatives, in a row that is raising tensions between the host country and the Bank and IMF.
Wolfowitz said yesterday that the government’s apparent failure to honour a memorandum of understanding to admit accredited delegates was “really unfortunate”. Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong had told him that “based on the bank vouching for these people, they would look at each case individually and open the door to let them in”, Wolfowitz told a press conference. He hoped that would “happen expeditiously”.
One CSO leader, Roberto Bission of Social Watch, yesterday called for the meeting to be stopped and moved to another venue.
A protest march at 11am this morning by Singapore’s domestic political opposition will go ahead despite a ban, Singapore Democratic Party leader Chee Soon Juan has announced. A CSO conference, the International People’s Forum, will start work in Batam, Indonesia. A brief silent protest took place in the Suntec conference centre yesterday in which protestors wore face masks saying: “No voice.”
Earlier this week, 27 accredited delegates were blacklisted and told they should expect not to gain entry to Singapore. Accredited delegates continued to be detained and interrogated while trying to enter the country yesterday, CSOs reported.
ActionAid International said one of its Brazilian representatives, passing through Singapore in order to attend the forum in Batam, was expecting to be deported last night after being questioned for more than 24 hours at Changi Airport.
Victor Keong of the Singapore police force’s public affairs division said three people had been turned away from Singapore so far, none of them from among those blacklisted. Asked if accredited delegates had been deported, he said: “No. Not yet.”
The World Bank claims some success in getting detained people through the airport, notably Filomeno Santa Ana, former school of economics director at the University of the Philippines and a member of Social Watch. His detention had been particularly widely remarked on, since he was part of the organising group for the Singapore meetings.
Calls to the prime minister’s office were not returned. But Chan Heng Chee, Singapore’s ambassador to the US, told Emerging Markets that Singapore’s behaviour was justified on security grounds. “This is not an easy time worldwide,” she said. “The Singapore government has taken action to increase security because there are so many important guests.”
The World Bank points out that, with over 600 civil society representatives from 68 countries accredited, this meeting has the largest ever CSO contingent.