LIBERTY IN NORTH KOREA

On Wednesday March 19^th two representatives of the Los Angeles-based organization Liberty In North Korea visited UNCG’s campus to raise awareness about the plight of North Korean refugees. Founded in 2010 by Hannah Song, LiNK has successfully aided 221 North Korean refugees in fleeing what is widely considered the most oppressive totalitarian regime in the world. 

            “The People’s Crisis” is a documentary written and produced by members of LiNK. The film follows members Hannah Song and Justin Wheeler as they undergo the mission of retrieving North Korean refugees who have fled their homes in hopes of attaining asylum in South East Asia. This process is neither safe nor predictable and involves secret meetings and checkpoints like a modern day underground railroad. 

            The border between North and South Korea is the most heavily guarded border in the world. For this reason, many refugees escape by way of China. This is problematic though, because China does not recognize North Korean asylum seekers as political refugees in spite of The Convention and Protocol Relating to The Status of Refugees, outlined by the United Nations. This has important implications for vulnerability of the refugees hiding in China. If intercepted by Chinese police, the refugees are sent back to North Korea, where they face detainment in labor camps, torture and often capital punishment.

            David Hawk, Author of The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps, compares North Korea’s political system to a three-legged stool. The first leg is the complete control of information coming in the country or leaving the country. The second leg is the surveillance of the citizenry by police forces and government spies. The third leg is the swift and severe punishment of anyone who is considered a threat to the regime. The comparison made by Hawk indicates that the foundation of North Korea’s political system is precarious and will perhaps eventually become its own undoing.

            For their own safety, the faces of the refugees interviewed in “The People’s Crisis” are either blurred or left in shadow. Minsung, only 18 years old, explained the emotional impact of achieving freedom, while his family remains under the North Korean totalitarian regime. “The food has no taste to me.” He said, “I am thinking of my family and the people back in North Korea”. Between 1994 and 1998 North Korea experienced the most detrimental famine of the 20^th century. While the worst of the famine has passed, thanks to $200 million in food aid from the UN, many North Koreans are still suffering from starvation and malnutrition today.

            Stephen Haggard, professor at The University of California’s Graduate School of International Relationships, explained the important role groups like LiNK play in changing North Korea’s current political landscape. “By encouraging the exit of North Koreans, we are either contributing to opening the country or we are providing new information back into North Korea. And obviously it becomes harder for an authoritarian regime to maintain itself as the citizens are more informed about opportunities abroad.” Haggard Said.

            It is the 21^st century and the way we process and share information has changed due to advances in technology. This provides a glimmer of hope for the people of North Korea, an isolated country that is becoming more open to international influence.  As information leaks into North Korea, the likelihood of mobilization, education, and protest among its citizens increases.

            LiNK’s mission is to change the way the world thinks about the state of North Korea on a grassroots level. So far, the narrative has remained a political discourse rather than a humanitarian one. Before the screening of “The People’s Crisis”, when asked what words come to mind when one hears “North Korea,” students responded with terms such as “nuclear missiles” or “dictatorship” rather than, “human rights” “famine” or “refugees”. To learn more about the real nature of life in North Korea, or for more information on how to get involved with LiNK visit www.libertyinnorthkorea.org.

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/11/time-for-egypt-and-sudan-to-rein-in-traffickers/

While stoners and conspiracy theorists of America prophesize about their country’s growing resemblance to a corrupt police state, Sudanese police forces are selling Eritrean asylum seekers to North African human traffickers. Egyptian police have also been known to conspire with the human traffickers in spite of Egypt’s 2010 Law on Combating Human Trafficking, which requires Egyptian Authorities to aid victims of human trafficking with medical assistance and protection. After being sold, the refugees are taken to hideouts where they are forced to call their relatives and ask for ransom money. Refugees are then tortured while they are on the phone with their relatives and even after the traffickers receive the money, the refugees are often sold again and the process starts all over. The American government has been accused of turning a blind eye to these crimes against humanity. More pressure needs to be put on Egyptian and Sudanese authorities to investigate the corruption within them. The article on CNN.com chronicles the journey of an Eritean man named Mesfin. Seeking refuge from the repressive regime of Eritea, Mesfin fled to Sudan where he was captured by police and sold to human traffickers. Mesfin was tortured and sold twice before being released. He ended up in the hands of Egyptian authorities. In these circumstances, more often then not, refugees intercepted by Egyptian police are detained until they raise enough money to buy a ticket to Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, where they are placed in refugee camps that are notoriously unsuitable for living. I am beginning to regret choosing human rights as the focus of my blog posts. These articles are incredibly unsettling. I feel guilty and helpless about things that are completely out of my control. If nothing else, these articles will continue to raise my awareness of injustices in the world at large, while making me thankful to live in America as a straight middle class white male.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/png-no-justice-for-woman-burned-alive-in-sorcery-attack

Today marks the one year anniversary of the killing of a woman in Papua New Guinea. Twenty year old Kepari Leniata was accused of sorcery and burned alive. Leniata was blamed for the death of a small boy in the city of Mount Hagen. The boy was terminally ill, but his brothers decided that his death was the result of a spell placed on him by Leniata. The boys that murdered her have yet to be brought to justice. According to the article, posted by Amnesty International, sorcery is often used as a pretext for violence against women in Papua New Guinea. Until recently, those accused of assault or murder were granted reduced sentences under the 1971 Sorcery Act. It took over 40 years for Papua New Guinea’s parliament to repeal an Act that has absolutely no place in the modern world. This is a despicable trend in Papua New Guinea. Obviously more must be done to educate the people of Papua New Guinea about the nature of the physical world we live in. Not only that, but measures must also be taken to bring practitioners of these crimes to justice. I believe it is completely unethical under any circumstances to tolerate crimes against women. I believe that tradition plays an important role in forming our cultural identities. However I also believe that any tradition or cultural belief that justifies the harming of women, physical and otherwise, should be eradicated. People often defend harmful traditions under the umbrella argument of cultural relativism, that is to say, “what’s right for us may not be right for them and vice versa”.  I believe in uncompromised freedom for every person as long as he or she does not harm anyone else, this is not consistent with the view of cultural relativism. There isn’t much to analyze about this article seeing as how it was posted by Amnesty International, whose motives are clear – to protect human rights of people worldwide.

“Amnesty International calls on Papua New Guinea’s government to develop urgent measures to protect women at risk of violence including establishing shelters and providing emergency funds to help women escape violence.”