President Lee: Build Refugee Camps in Mongolia
By Yang Jung A
It has been only recently been revealed that President Lee Myung Bak shortly after being inaugurated, ordered a review of possible construction of refugee camps in the regions of countries such as Thailand and Mongolia where a fair amount of defectors reside. He also ordered more effort to be put in to international negotiations in order to have defectors recognized as refugees in foreign countries.
According to “presidential order list” documents received by Assemblyman Hong Jung Wook of the Grand National Party from the Ministry of Unification on the 30th, President Lee ordered last March 26th to “negotiate with countries that defectors are residing in, such as Mongolia and Russia, regarding the possibility of constructing refugee districts if China remains unrecognizing of the defectors as political refugees”.
President Lee also said on March 15th to “attempt to resolve issues related to defectors residing in Thailand from human rights’ point of view by negotiating to get the defectors recognized as refugees from the UN and reviewing the possibility of constructing refugee camps in Thailand”.
Negotiations following President Lee’s orders are being processed by the Ministry of Unification and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade with the pertinent countries. Regarding the issue, the Ministry of Unification personnel stated that “When assemblyman Hong asked us about the plans to follow up on President’s orders, we answered him by saying that the issue was not strongly related to what we do at the Ministry.”
Hong said “There are tens of thousands of North Korean defectors in China. We cannot ignore the possibility of mass illegal emigration as the North Korean political situation changes… The government now has to put much more efforts to protect the human rights of these defectors abroad.”
Hong continued and emphasized that “we should no longer overlook human rights in fear of ruining South-North relations. There have been numerous plans suggested in resolving issues related to defectors. However, it is essential to review and plan comprehensive measures internationally and domestically to help defectors settle and protect them. Although there are fundamental limitations, these measures should be based on international cooperation.”
Source from: www.dailynk.com
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