All aboard North Korea's refugee railroad

Aug 3, 2011
By Sebastian Strangio
Asia Times Online

In the cable, however, Om Yentieng "did register some concern over the PM's safety due to the proximity of the North Korean Embassy [which is next door] to the PM's residence" should Cambodian cooperation on the refugee issue become public.

PHNOM PENH - In late November 2006, after a long, perilous journey from northeast China, a North Korean national crossed the Vietnamese frontier into Cambodia's northeast Mondulkiri province. The man, identified only as Ly Hai Long in local media reports, was promptly arrested by Cambodian police, who told a reporter from the Cambodia Daily that they had deported him to Vietnam.

Recently leaked cables from the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, part of a cache of 777 dispatches released last month by anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks, tell a different story. According to one cable (06PHNOMPENH2072) from the same month, Ly Hai Long was secretly allowed to remain in Cambodia. The South Korean ambassador to Cambodia confirmed to United States officials "that his government would be working quietly with the RGC [Royal Government of Cambodia] to ensure that the North Korean is moved to South Korea".

Thamrongsak Meechubot, then head of the office of the United Nations refugee agency in Phnom Penh, told US officials he was "not surprised" that Cambodian police had leaked information about the man's deportation. The implication was that the rumor was used to provide a cover of secrecy to his transfer to the South. Thamrongsak said it was a tactic that had been used by the Cambodians before.

Increasing Numbers of N.Korean Refugees Head to Thailand

January 4, 2010
The Chosun Ilbo (South Korea)

An increasing number of North Korean refugees are arriving in northern Thailand, fleeing poverty and political oppression at home. Two North Koreans turn away as a group of journalists and refugee activists attempt to talk to them. They were spotted on the side of the road along Thailand's border with Laos. Several more ran as journalists approached.

Speaking in Chinese, one woman says they just arrived and asks where exactly they are, but she does not want to say where they came from or how they got here. "Don't ask this. So many things are not good to ask. We don't dare say," she said.

The refugees reach Thailand by crossing the Mekong River from Laos after a dangerous journey across China.

Thai immigration authorities say they took more than 1,000 North Koreans into custody in 2009, compared with less than 400 in 2008 when Beijing tightened security for the Olympics.

Police superintendent Sutham Chatarsa says they come to Thailand because, unlike in China and Laos, they will not be sent home, where they could face execution. "We don't have the policy to send them back to North Korea," he said. "We want to take care of them until they are accepted into a third country. It's not the same as people coming from Cambodia or Laos. North Koreans come here because of political problems. So, we want them to get to a third country."

Even so, the North Koreans are treated as illegal immigrants before being allowed to go to South Korea or another country. Lawmakers from 12 countries met in Thailand in November to raise attention to the plight of North Koreans fleeing their impoverished and repressive nation.

South Korean lawmaker Kim Yong-tae says they often face abuse because of their illegal status. "We need to cooperate with each other to pressure Chinese or the other country's governments to give them legal status. And second, we need to offer some conditions for them to sustain their livelihoods," said Kim Yong-tae.

Police at Chiangsaen question 14 North Koreans, including two children. Thai authorities say they expect the number of North Korean refugees to continue to grow in 2010 as more choose to take the dangerous journey to freedom.

Campaign against Chinese government's policy of North Korean refugees

A pedestrian looks at a screen during a street campaign against Chinese government's policy of North Korean refugees in downtown Seoul, Friday, Aug. 10, 2007. Thousands of North Koreans have fled their communist homeland to escape hunger and harsh political oppression in recent years, with many taking a long journey through the lands of China to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries on their way to seek asylum with a great risk of getting repatriated if they were ever caught by Chinese authorities. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)