MANILA, Philippines - The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) has voiced its outrage over the “unjust deportation” of a member and 5 other activists who were supposed to attend the G-20 summit in Seoul, South Korea.

In a press release, “nothing demonstrates the true nature of G-20 than the fact that while it is detaining and deporting activists from the global south, it was busy preparing to have a dialogue with the world's top 120 corporate leaders,” APL deputy secretary general Edwin Bustillos said.

APL secretary general Josua Mata was 1 of 6 who were not allowed to enter Korea on Saturday. The others are: Joseph Purugganan of the Focus on the Global South; Ma. Lorena Macabuag, Migrant Forum Asia; Rogelio Soluta, Kilusang Mayo Uno; Paul Quintos, Ibon; and progressive musician Jess Santiago.

They were invited by several Korean civil society organizations under the Korean People's G20 Response Action, including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), to participate in different programs of a “parallel forum” to the official G-20 Economic Summit on Nov. 11-12.

The Korean authorities supposedly failed to present any written explanation regarding the blacklisting.

“We hold the government of President Lee Myung-bak responsible for this hostile and illegal action, including the rough treatment our comrades suffered from Korean immigration officers who, following orders from you, were utterly devoid of decency, humanity and transparency,” Bustillos said.

He added that the Korean government’s “security paranoia and twisted aversion to civil society, including even the legitimate parallel assembly to the G-20, is like a return to the past military dictatorships in Korea and the martial law regime here in the Philippines, and like an obedient canine bowing to his rich corporate masters in the G-20.”