The title screen of ‘On The Border’, Korea's first global cross-media program on North Korean refugees produced by the Chosun Ilbo in cooperation with leading international broadcasters. english.chosun.com
Mar.19,2008
The Thai government told the South Korean government in January to take the large numbers of North Korean refugees currently in Thailand off its hands. But the South Korean government found it difficult to transport more than 70 refugees at a time for reasons of security and the size of the North Korean refugee camp in South Korea, it emerged Tuesday.
According to the foreign and unification ministries, the Thai government told South Korea in January it decided to allow the South Korean government to transport North Korean refugees as it wishes, but they should be transported in large numbers, so that the overcrowding of the immigration center can be relieved.
As of January, some 400 North Korean refugees, more than three times the optimum level of 120, were staying at the Thai immigration center. But South Korea government has been transporting only about 40 to 50 of them at a time on grounds that the North Korean refugee camp here has already reached saturation point and they have to be transported in secrecy.
A South Korean government official said, "We've brought North Korean refugees from Southeast Asia almost every week since December last year. As a result, the number of North Korean refugees in the Thai center has dwindled to about 300." A total of 400 North Korean refugees have reportedly arrived in South Korea from Southeast Asia since early this year.
An estimated 800 North Korean refugees are staying at police stations or private homes in Thailand in addition to the immigration center, waiting to be taken to South Korea. Many more than the number the South Korean government is currently taking to Seoul are flocking to Southeast Asia, chiefly because China is forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees it captures and the food shortage in North Korea is serious.
There are also hundreds of North Korean refugees staying in Cambodia and Laos. Hanawon, the South Korean government resettlement center for North Korean refugees, now accommodates some 660 North Koreans. They undergo resettlement training for three months before leaving the center. Ongoing extension work at Hanawon is expected to be completed around December.
Do Hee-yoon, the head of the Citizen's Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees (CHNK), said "Nobody knows when and how a massive escape will occur in North Korea. The existing resettlement center is too small to accommodate a massive refugee exodus." From March to May is the hottest season in Thailand, when the temperature hovers around 30 degrees Celsius even at night, making life harsh in an overcrowded facility.
In a telephone interview with the Chosun Ilbo, a female North Korean refugee staying in the immigration camp in Bangkok said, "Skin disease is spreading, and medicine is in short supply.
Some women are suffocating and faint." A male North Korean refugee in the same camp said, "There are seven children under 10. They have difficulty eating. We hope the South Korean government will take these children out ahead of others."
Mar.19,2008
The Thai government told the South Korean government in January to take the large numbers of North Korean refugees currently in Thailand off its hands. But the South Korean government found it difficult to transport more than 70 refugees at a time for reasons of security and the size of the North Korean refugee camp in South Korea, it emerged Tuesday.
According to the foreign and unification ministries, the Thai government told South Korea in January it decided to allow the South Korean government to transport North Korean refugees as it wishes, but they should be transported in large numbers, so that the overcrowding of the immigration center can be relieved.
As of January, some 400 North Korean refugees, more than three times the optimum level of 120, were staying at the Thai immigration center. But South Korea government has been transporting only about 40 to 50 of them at a time on grounds that the North Korean refugee camp here has already reached saturation point and they have to be transported in secrecy.
A South Korean government official said, "We've brought North Korean refugees from Southeast Asia almost every week since December last year. As a result, the number of North Korean refugees in the Thai center has dwindled to about 300." A total of 400 North Korean refugees have reportedly arrived in South Korea from Southeast Asia since early this year.
An estimated 800 North Korean refugees are staying at police stations or private homes in Thailand in addition to the immigration center, waiting to be taken to South Korea. Many more than the number the South Korean government is currently taking to Seoul are flocking to Southeast Asia, chiefly because China is forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees it captures and the food shortage in North Korea is serious.
There are also hundreds of North Korean refugees staying in Cambodia and Laos. Hanawon, the South Korean government resettlement center for North Korean refugees, now accommodates some 660 North Koreans. They undergo resettlement training for three months before leaving the center. Ongoing extension work at Hanawon is expected to be completed around December.
Do Hee-yoon, the head of the Citizen's Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees (CHNK), said "Nobody knows when and how a massive escape will occur in North Korea. The existing resettlement center is too small to accommodate a massive refugee exodus." From March to May is the hottest season in Thailand, when the temperature hovers around 30 degrees Celsius even at night, making life harsh in an overcrowded facility.
In a telephone interview with the Chosun Ilbo, a female North Korean refugee staying in the immigration camp in Bangkok said, "Skin disease is spreading, and medicine is in short supply.
Some women are suffocating and faint." A male North Korean refugee in the same camp said, "There are seven children under 10. They have difficulty eating. We hope the South Korean government will take these children out ahead of others."
No comments:
Post a Comment