Released by the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration
March 11, 2005
The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (NKHRA), signed by the President on October 18, 2004, seeks to address the serious human rights situation in North Korea and promote durable solutions for refugees, transparency in the provision of humanitarian assistance, a free flow of information, and progress towards the peaceful reunification on the Korean peninsula. The Act mandates the appointment of a Special Envoy on Human Rights in North Korea and requires six different reports. On February 22, 2005, the Department of State submitted the first of these reports, entitled "The Status of North Korean Asylum Seekers and the U.S. Policy Towards Them."
Key Highlights of the Report
The international community faces a dearth of verifiable information on the humanitarian status of North Koreans either inside or outside North Korea, as well as information on the circumstances refugees face if they are forcibly returned to North Korea.
Despite repeated approaches by the United States and others, China refuses to abide by its obligations as a party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol to grant UNHCR access to North Koreans who seek asylum in China and to permit screenings of persons asserting a need for protection. The PRC insists that North Koreans in China are "economic migrants" who have no legitimate claim to refugee status. In 2004, several thousand North Koreans were reportedly detained and forcibly returned to North Korea, where many faced persecution and some may have been executed. At the same time, the discreet movement of North Korean nationals to the Republic of Korea (ROK) continues. Over 4,000 North Koreans resettled in the ROK between 2002 and 2004.
We have conducted a survey of U.S. embassies in Asia to determine the feasibility of funding new humanitarian assistance programs and establishing refugee admissions programs for North Koreans. Preliminary indications are that governments hosting North Korean refugees would oppose direct, U.S.-funded humanitarian assistance programs for North Koreans on their territories. One of the biggest challenges the United States faces in resettling North Korean asylum seekers in the United States is identifying reliable sources for U.S. agencies to complete required security background checks on North Korean applicants. The nature of the North Korean regime denies the U.S. government ready access to information on individual North Koreans. The State Department and Department of Homeland Security are studying mechanisms under which we could consider some North Korean refugees for resettlement in the United States.
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