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News Articles
TEN NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES ARRESTED IN LAOS, THEN FREED
Officials accept ransom payments; refugees gain
freedom after tense negotiations.
[June 14, 2006]
June 14 (Compass) – Communist authorities in Laos arrested 10
North Korean refugees and two South Korean activists in late May
as they attempted to reach safety in neighboring Thailand, a
South Korean newspaper reported on Friday (June 9).
After almost two weeks of tense negotiations with officials, the
refugees were released into the hands of South Korean embassy
staff on Saturday (June 10).
Lao police arrested the first group, consisting of eight
refugees and one activist, in northern Luang Namtha province on
May 31. A second group of two refugees and their activist guide
was arrested at around the same time.
The refugees were identified as Cha Song-chol (male, 53); Cheon
Yong-kum (female, 58); Cha Kwang-su (male, 25); Kim Kyong-suk
(female, 71); Chu Hi-ok (female, 40); Yim Jong-suk (female, 36);
Shim Yong-kum, (female, 35); Park Yong-nan (female, 26); Jeon
Song-hi (female, 26) and Kim Jong-ae (female, 35).
The two South Korean activists were identified as Kim Hee-tae
and Shin Sang Hwa, both believed to be Christians.
The religious background of the 10 North Korean defectors was
unknown at press time.
Aside from a few “show” churches in Pyongyang, the practice of
Christianity is outlawed in North Korea. Yet the Rev. Tim Peters
of the Seoul-based charity Helping Hands Korea believes the
church is alive and well, with an estimated 200,000 to 400,000
Christians still living in the country.
Statistics are notoriously difficult to come by in any
restricted situation, Peters cautioned in a recent phone
interview, “but Christian history shows us that wherever you
have persecution, the church is flourishing.”
Rising Tide of Refugees
Leaving North Korea without official permission is a serious
crime. Security guards closely question all refugees who are
forcibly returned; many are tortured and/or imprisoned. Those
who return with a Bible or admit having contact with Christians
in China face certain torture and imprisonment, and, in some
extreme cases, execution.
Despite these risks, hundreds of North Koreans continue to cross
the border into China, seeking relief from the brutalities of
the regime.
Thousands of North Korean refugees are living in China. Without
legal citizenship, however, they are constantly at risk of being
arrested and sent back home. The Chinese government recently
increased the “bounty” payable for turning in a North Korean
refugee from 1,000 yuan (US$125) to 3,000 yuan (US$374).
“The Chinese are extremely serious about ferreting out North
Koreans,” Peters confirmed.
According to Peters, China forcibly repatriates an average of
500 North Koreans every month, sometimes as many as 200 per
week.
Urgent Intervention
Fearing that the refugees in Laos might suffer the same fate,
human rights groups sought urgent intervention from the United
Nations, as well as from the U.S. and South Korean governments.
When all efforts failed, a representative of Helping Hands Korea
paid a ransom of US$500 per head for eight of the refugees;
another activist ransomed the other two.
In return, Lao officials issued a certificate to each refugee on
June 2, giving them seven days to report to the South Korean
embassy in the capital, Vientiane.
On June 3, however, police in the neighboring province of Luang
Prabang re-arrested the 10 and held them in an immigration
detention center in Pang Mong township. Local police argued that
the refugees should be turned over to the North Korean embassy
in Vientiane.
Several days of tense negotiations followed, with a wide range
of non-governmental organizations pressing the Lao and South
Korean governments to grant asylum to the refugees.
After almost two weeks of negotiation, the Lao government
allowed South Korean embassy staff to collect the refugees from
Pang Mong.
‘Economic Migrants’
Most refugees in China are not as fortunate. China has a mutual
repatriation agreement with North Korea. Under this agreement,
North Korean refugees are labeled “economic migrants” and
forcibly returned to their country of origin.
As “economic migrants,” the defectors do not qualify for
assistance from the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). China has repeatedly turned
down UNHCR requests for access to border areas.
Multiple interviews with the refugees, however, show clear
evidence of severe and widespread human rights abuses. Refugees
report brainwashing tactics; tight control of movement; harsh
labor requirements; imprisonment of up to three generations of a
family for minor infractions; and severe shortages of food,
medical care and other basic necessities.
In her memoir, Eyes of the Tailless Animals, former prisoner
Soon Ok Lee described forced labor, torture, harassment and
forced abortions in one of North Korea’s notorious labor camps.
She also said Christians were singled out for particular
punishment – an observation which led Soon to adopt Christianity
following her unprecedented release from the labor camp.
Long Road to Freedom
Several human rights groups are involved in an “underground
railroad” transporting North Koreans out of China via several
Asian routes to safety in third countries. Most refugees choose
South Korea as a final destination. The United States welcomed
its first North Korean asylum seekers in May of this year.
Peters requested prayer for Christian activists who put their
own freedom at risk to help the refugees.
Addressing China’s treatment of North Korean refugees is an
important first step towards an international solution,
according to Peters. Everyone wants a piece of China’s booming
economy – but the refugee issue pits politics and lucrative
trade agreements against human rights issues, and the pocketbook
usually wins.
“We need to link trade with human rights issues,” Peters
insisted. “International trading partners need to take a real
hard look at their own policies towards China.”
As for the regime change predicted by some North Korean
observers, he said, “There’s just no way you can predict with
meaningful accuracy, because there are so many factors
involved.”
Desperation is clearly growing. Peters said 95 percent of those
who have escaped North Korea since 1953 have done so in the past
five or six years, with a clear increase from 2002 onwards. At
the same time, it has been reported that the amount of refugees
declined for the first time in 2005 as the difficulty of
crossing the border increased.
“I personally feel we’re within a year or two of some type of
seismic shift in North Korea,” Peters added. “But we should be
aware that China is not sitting idly by. They’re moving in –
building infrastructure, buying access to North Korean ports for
shipping, propping up the North Korean economy for their own
purposes.
“These signs are extremely troubling.”
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