Sorry for crossposting...
Many of our colleagues have been blacklisted and many NGOs have issued a boycott
call which was sent earlier...
This has implications as well to how the governments will deal with the upcoming
ASEAN Summit in Cebu City, Philippines
----- Original Message -----
From: sinapan samydorai <samysd@pacific.net.sg>
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 8:08 PM
Subject: <SAPA> Bank Information Center: Sept 13 Update on WB-IMF AGM
>
> Sept 13 Update on WB-IMF AGM
>
> Dear friends,
>
> Reports of deportations, detentions, and voluntary cancellation of travel
> to Singapore are poring in. Organizations have started responding to the
> boycott call and we have seen copies of correspondence in which they inform
> the WB-IMF of their decision to boycott the official meetings due to the
> black-list.
>
> Below is some information that we have gathered since yesterday from
> contacts at the World Bank.
>
> The Black-list: The WB-IMF can confirm that the list has grown to 28
> individuals. They say they have contacted all 28 to let them know they
> might face deportation if they try to enter Singapore. In response to the
> news that the list might be growing, the Bank source said they don?t know
> how quickly the Singapore government is communicating the extension of the
> list (if that?s the case) to the Bank Secretariat. Wolfowitz arrived in
> Singapore last night and was briefed by his staff about developments on the
> black-list and CSO participation. He is meeting tomorrow with the Singapore
> Prime Minister and is expected to raise the issue of the black-list again
> with the PM but Bank staff are not hopeful that it will be withdrawn.
>
> Boycott and CSO Participation: The Bank says thus far they have accredited
> 600 CSO representatives to the AGM. 90 more applications were being dealt
> with yesterday. They said this was the largest accreditation of CSOs for an
> AGM and the irony of the difficulties being faced by them is hugely
> apparent. Until yesterday, the Bank had only heard about the boycott and
> tried to confirm this with us but we responded vaguely. They have since
> received official letters of cancellation so they are well aware of the
> boycott action as of today. Their reaction to the boycott is one of regret
> and disappointment; they say they understand why this action is being
> taken, but they will go ahead with the civil society dialogues as planned.
> As for the suggestion/demand that the Bank-Fund cancel the meetings in
> Singapore and move them to another location, the response was that there
> are too many over-riding interests which are determining that things go
> ahead as planned. If member governments of those on the black-list were to
> make this call, then the Bank may take some action to this effect. The
> ban/black-list will however ensure that more safeguards are built into the
> MoU for Turkey; the decision re. next the AGM being hosted by Turkey in
> 2009 will officially be made at the end of the Singapore AGM.
>
> Statement on black-list by Kevin Kellems, Acting VP for External Relations:
> Kevin Kellems issued the following statement today.
>
> "This is a breach of the formal agreement we had with the Government of
> Singapore, in a September 23, 2003 Memorandum of Understanding. These
> individuals have been cleared by their respective home governments, and
> should not be excluded from our Annual Meetings. We work with these
> representatives of civil society and we value their role -- even when we
> disagree with what they say. We continue to urge the Government of
> Singapore to let them participate by 'assur(ing) expeditious entry
> procedures, including the issuance of visas ...for any observers and other
> persons ... who are accredited to or invited by the Organizations to be
> present for the Meetings.'"
> -Kevin Shaw Kellems
> Acting Vice President, EXT
> Senior Advisor to the President
> The World Bank Group
>
> That's all the news we have as of this afternoon. More to follow as soon as
> we hear anything. If you have any queries that you might like us to
> follow-up on, please let me know.
>
> Best wishes and safe travels to all of you making your way to Singapore and
> Batam,
>
>
> Mishka
>
> Mishka Zaman
> Manager, Asia Program
> Bank Information Center
> 1100 "H" Street NW, Suite 650
> Washington, D.C. 20005
> phone: 202-624 0622 (direct); 202-737-7752 (general)
> fax: 202-737-1155
> email: mzaman@bicusa.org
> website: www.bicusa.org
>
> The Bank Information Center (BIC) partners with civil society in developing
> and transition countries to influence the World Bank and other
> international financial institutions (IFIs) to promote social and economic
> justice and ecological sustainability. BIC is a non-profit organization and
> accepts no funding from any of the IFIs.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------