Rocketfuel’s Weblog

Thailand Urged Seoul to Accept More N.Korean Refugees

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…

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.” (full article)

Brownie points for Thailand for not only making great commercials, but also for doing the best they can to help these North Korean refugees. Same goes for the other Southeast Asian countries who are holding onto them rather then send them back to the North or keep them as slaves, like China. I probably can’t do much from where I stand…but I’ll help out anyway I can.

So anyone who happens to stumble across my humble blog….you can either go to LiNK and educate yourself or go to Facebook and look for that same non-profit group. Then if you feel like you learned enough to make you act, you can donate some money or buy a T-Shirt where the profits will go to their cause. For me, it’s certainly more productive than reading these articles and just letting my blood boil without any action to do something positive for these North Korean refugees.

For each article where I read about North Korean refugees suffering…I plan to make another donation. I just don’t want to be one of those people who reads about them and then forgets about it because I have other things to do….Hell, I know my mom came from the North and I probably would never have been born if my mom didn’t meet my dad in the South.