TO THE Immigratie-en Naturalisatiedienst (IND), 
Zuiderzeelaan 43-51, 8017 Jv Zwolle, Netherlands

Dear Sir/Madam

PLEASE REFUSE ASYLUM TO HARRY ROQUE, FUGITIVE, FORMER HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER AND SPOKESPERSON OF FORMER PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE

We are very concerned to hear that Herminio Lopez Roque Jr., otherwise known as Harry Roque, previously a human rights lawyer apparently registered with the International Criminal Court, and former Spokesperson for the former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, is applying for asylum in the Netherlands.  He was previously hiding in the United Arab Emirates and came to the Netherlands in the hope of defending the former president.

We are writing to the Dutch Government to nip this attempt in the bud.  To quote from their website: “The Netherlands grants asylum to people who are in danger, risk torture or inhuman treatment in their country of origin. For example if there is a war in their country. First, however, special procedures are followed to determine whether an asylum seeker genuinely needs protection.”

Roque is not only unqualified for asylum in a great free country like the Netherlands.  He also does not meet the formal requirements for asylum. Furthermore, he is misusing the Dutch asylum system to evade justice from the House of Representatives, evade questions about his sudden wealth, his involvement in the now banned Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, and alleged links with human trafficking operations. 

We address the various questions applied to asylum-seekers in the Netherlands, and our response under each:
•   You have well-founded reasons to fear persecution in your country of origin because of your race, religion, nationality or political opinion, or because you belong to a certain social group. These reasons are explained in the Geneva Convention on Refugees.
o   No, Roque is not being persecuted in his country of origin for any of these.  He is facing investigation on alleged crimes by the Philippine House of Representatives including qualified human trafficking due to his connections to and lawyering for POGOs (offshore international scam hubs), and was avoiding questions on his sudden wealth.

•   You have well-founded reasons to fear the death penalty or execution, torture or other inhumane or degrading treatment in your country of origin.
o    No, Roque has no reasons to fear any of these.  He was in fact involved in promoting some of these terrible reasons when he was the Spokesperson for former President Duterte, who is now held at Scheveningen Detention Centre for charges of “crimes against humanity” by the International Criminal Court.
o    Roque chose to be a fugitive because he did not want to present evidence of his sudden wealth and was cited for contempt after refusing to do so.  The House of Representatives have since ordered his detention.

•    You have well-founded reasons to fear that you will become a victim of random violence due to an armed conflict in your country of origin.
o    No, Roque has no well-founded reasons to fear he would become a victim of random violence.  Remember that he was part of the previous administration whose penchant for violence and extra-judicial killings are well documented.

•    Your husband or wife, partner, father, mother or minor child has recently obtained an asylum residence permit in the Netherlands.
o    He has none of these that we know of.
Roque is in fact in the Netherlands to try and become the Counsel for his previous employer and benefactor, the former President Duterte, who is now facing the crimes against humanity of murder following his arrest in the Philippines.  We cannot imagine a fugitive lawyer from the Philippines being allowed by the ICC to represent Duterte when he was himself complicit in the crimes against humanity for justifying and defending those crimes when they were in power, and he is himself sought for alleged crimes in his home country.

We have also just found out that Roque has supposedly signed recently the petition for habeas corpus by the former president’s son in the Philippines, when he was actually in hiding abroad.  This potentially involves fraudulent actions by Roque if proven true.

The irony of his situation appears to be lost on Roque.  He is doing this to try and escape Philippine justice by using the Dutch asylum system as a tool to stay in the Netherlands, at least while his spurious asylum application is considered, as they would protect him in country while the case is pending.  He would therefore be immune from deportation to the Philippines, while in the meantime he tries to take on the role of defense counsel for President Duterte.  This is totally unacceptable to us.

Please refuse Herminio Lopez Roque Jr’s asylum application on the basis of the points mentioned above.

Concerned Filipino Citizens