Posted by Malcolm G. Fleming, Oxfam in Scotland.

Welcome to Singapore Sir! I get a warm welcome at Singapore airport upon arrival as part of Oxfam International's small team at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund's annual meetings. A friendly official holding a sign with IMF / World Bank logos ensures I am quickly escorted through immigration and get a taxi to the city centre.

That friendly welcome is in stark contrast to 28 other campaigners who planned to attend these meetings. Despite receiving accreditation from the World Bank / IMF, the government of Singapore has chosen to 'blacklist' them for no obvious reason. Amongst the names on the blacklist are a number of people Oxfam work with and we are both bemused at why they have been excluded and angry that they have been denied their voice.

At the very time when the World Bank / IMF is talking up the need for a strong civil society to ensure governments practice good governance, the government hosting their meetings is turning people back at the border.

Oxfam, like many other organisations here, had planned to take part in the official 'Civil Society Policy Forum Program', but have decided to boycott the programme as a protest at the blacklisting, pulling out of two events we were to be involved in.

After getting my official "accreditation" I head to the conference centre. There is a buzz of excitement as the President of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, and the Managing Director of the IMF, Rodrigo de Rato, arrive unannounced in the designated 'civil society rooms' to state that they support the right of the banned delegates to attend and calling on the Singpore government to reverse the ban. Could a last-minute lifting of the blacklist be in the offing?