Mindanao groups demand release of HR advocate detained at US airport

CIVIL society groups based in Mindanao is demanding the release of a human rights activist who was held at an airport in the United States upon his arrival Wednesday evening, April 18, for a speaking engagement there.

Held inside the holding facility at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in San Francisco, California, Jerome Aba arrived in the U.S. on 8 p.m. Tuesday (U.S. Pacific Time), but the group of people waiting for his arrival didn’t hear from him until the next day when he left a voicemail saying he was not allowed to leave and proceed to his destination.

It was learned that Aba is being detained by the American immigration officials at the SFO over some problem with his visa.

Aba is the chairperson of the Suara Bangsamoro, a nongovernment organization advancing the interest of the Moro people in Mindanao.

The group Sandugo – Movement of Moro and Indigenous Peoples for Self-Determination, in a statement on Thursday, said Aba was supposed to speak with the U.S. Council of Bishops and both houses of the U.S. Congress on the effects of martial law in Mindanao.

“What is happening in the Southern Philippine because of martial law and the fascist attacks of the Duterte regime – massacres, killings, forced mass evacuations and other human rights abuses – must be exposed worldwide. Is the US government afraid that its role on the atrocities against the national minorities and peasants in Mindanao will be exposed?” Sandugo said.

Sandugo is calling on the American government to immediately release Aba and allow him to speak about what is happening in Mindanao.

“The whole world ought to know the tyranny of the Duterte regime over our country. We seek help from peace advocates in the US to help us demand the US government to release Aba,” it added.

For her part, former Suara Bangsamoro national president Amirah Lidasan said U.S. President Donald Trump’s discriminatory and xenophobic Muslim ban policy is the reason why Aba was denied entry in the U.S.

“This is the first case where a Muslim from Southern Philippines was arrested, detained and denied entry in the US since Trump’s presidency,” Lidasan said.

CBS San Franciso Bay Area reported on its website that as of 2 p.m. Wednesday (U.S. Pacific Time) Aba was given access to basic necessities such as food, water and a restroom while awaiting his flight back to the Philippines.