NORTHEAST ASIA PEACE AND SECURITY NETWORK ***** SPECIAL REPORT ***** Memorandum on "North Korea: Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Human Rights" By Ellsworth Culver May 22, 2003 A world wide web version of this report can be found at: http://nautilus.org/napsnet/sr/index.html Nautilus invites your contributions to this forum, including any responses to this essay. Copyright (c) 2003 Nautilus of America / The Nautilus Institute -------------------- CONTENTS I. Introduction II. Memorandum by Ellsworth Culver III. Nautilus invites your responses I. Introduction This memorandum by Ellsworth Culver, co-founder and Senior Vice President of Mercy Corps International, was originally prepared for the Task Force on U.S. Korea Policy sponsored by the Center for International Policy and Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago, Brookings Institution, Washington, January 9, 2003. The 28-member panel included Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr., former Chairman of the Joint-Chiefs of Staff; two former U.S. ambassadors to South Korea, Donald P. Gregg and James T. Laney; Lee H. Hamilton, Vice-Chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States; Ambassador Robert L. Gallucci, who negotiated the 1994 Agreed Framework with North Korea; and Selig S. Harrison, Chairman of the Task Force, Director of the Asia Program at the Center for International Policy and a leading Korea expert; and the directors of research institutes specializing in Korea and East Asia at ten leading Universities. The Task Force convened on three occasions between November 2002 and January 2003. It was co-sponsored by the Center for International Policy and the Center for East Asian Studies of the University of Chicago. Funding was provided by the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation and the Center for East Asian Studies. For more information on the task force: http://www.ciponline.org/asia/ The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Nautilus Institute. Readers should note that Nautilus seeks a diversity of views and opinions on contentious topics in order to identify common ground. II. Memorandum by Ells Culver MEMORANDUM Date: January 7, 2003 To: Selig Harrison From: Ells Culver and Court Robinson Re: North Korea: Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Human Rights Since at least 1997, North Koreans have been crossing the border into China in search of temporary shelter and survival aid from the local Korean-Chinese population living in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Estimates of their numbers range from 10,000 (a figure suggested by the Chinese government) to 300,000 (a number commonly used by South Korean advocacy organizations). Mercy Corps has tended to use a range of 50,000 to 150,000 though, in truth, accurate numbers may never be known. Two points about this population, however, should not be in dispute: 1. If they cross the border illegally (and most do) they are treated as illegal immigrants, subject to arrest, detention, and deportation. Upon return to North Korea, they are subject to penalties ranging from short-term detention in a "labor training center" to longer-term prison sentences. 2. Given their physical condition, their demographic characteristics, the circumstances of their migration, their illegal status in China and the penalties they face upon return to North Korea, they are a highly vulnerable population in need of humanitarian aid and, in many cases, protection. Among the most vulnerable are unaccompanied minors, women, the elderly, medically needy, and asylum seekers. While most North Koreans in China are searching primarily for temporary assistance, others (and they are an increasing proportion of the total) seek either longer-term sanctuary in China or permanent resettlement in another country. Since March 2002, nearly 200 North Koreans have forced their way into foreign embassies and consulates in China in an attempt to gain resettlement elsewhere, usually in South Korea. The number of North Koreans resettling in the Republic of Korea has grown steadily from 150 in 1999, to 312 in 2000, 583 in 2001, and more than 1,100 in 2002. Most of these journeys require lengthy travel through China to regional countries like Mongolia, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, and Thailand in order to gain admission to South Korea. Many of these asylum seekers tell "ordinary" stories of hardship that seems the lot of all but the most privileged cadre in North Korea-lack of food, lack of productive work, lack of fuel, lack of medicine. But some of the stories clearly are histories of persecution for "counter-revolutionary" beliefs and/or behavior, which may involve nothing more than worshipping at a house-church or possessing items made in South Korea. For others, the very act of seeking asylum-of even stating an intent to resettle elsewhere-can be considered disloyal or even traitorous to the North Korean government. The issues of North Korean migrants, asylum seekers and human rights, we believe, cannot be resolved through further isolation, a policy that does nothing to address the many vulnerabilities of the North Korean people. Rather, what is needed is a more comprehensive and energetic policy of engagement that seeks to strengthen the humanitarian presence on the China-North Korea border as well as inside the country. Feeding hungry people is the place to begin but we should not be content to leave it at that. Recommendations:(1) 1. China and North Korea should be encouraged to expand humanitarian access to monitor and assist migrants in China and returnees to North Korea with food, medical aid and other needed assistance. 2. China should be urged to declare a moratorium on the forced return of North Korean migrants and asylum seekers, pending a more durable and humane solution. 3. North Korea should be urged to repeal all laws that penalize citizens for leaving its territory or returning without authorization. 4. North Korea should be urged to grant access to the UN human rights special rapporteurs and working groups on arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment, religious freedom, violence against women, and freedom of expression to visit North Korea to assess compliance with its UN human rights treaty obligations. Footnotes (1) Adapted from Human Rights Watch, The Invisible Exodus: North Koreans in the People's Republic of China, Vol 14, No 8 (C)- November 2002. III. Nautilus invites your responses The Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network invites your responses to this essay. Please send responses to: napsnet@nautilus.org. Responses will be considered for redistribution to the network only if they include the author's name, affiliation, and explicit consent.