107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 213

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress regarding North

Korean refugees who are detained in China andreturned to North Korea where they face torture,imprisonment, and execution.

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 213

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas the Government of North Korea is controlled by the

Korean Workers Party, which does not recognize the

right of North Koreans to exercise the freedoms of

speech, religion, press, assembly, or association;

Whereas the Government of North Korea imposes punishments, including execution, for crimes such as attempted

defection, slander of the Korean Workers Party, listening
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to foreign broadcasts, possessing printed matter that is

considered reactionary by the Korean Workers Party, and

holding prohibited religious beliefs;

Whereas genuine religious freedom does not exist in North

Korea and reports of executions, torture, and imprisonment of religious persons in the country continue to

emerge;

Whereas the Government of North Korea holds an estimated

200,000 political prisoners in camps that its State Security Agency manages through the use of forced labor,

beatings, torture, and executions, in which many prisoners also die from disease, starvation, and exposure;

Whereas at least 1,000,000 North Koreans are estimated to

have died of starvation since 1995 because of the failure

of the centralized agricultural system operated by the

Government of North Korea;

Whereas the combination of political, social, and religious

persecution and the risk of starvation in North Korea is

causing many North Koreans to flee to China;

Whereas between 100,000 and 300,000 North Koreans are

estimated to be residing in China without the permission

of the Government of China;

Whereas in past years some Chinese authorities appear to

have tolerated quiet efforts by nongovernmental organizations to assist North Korean refugees in China, and have

allowed the departure of limited numbers of North Korean refugees after the advocacy of third countries, whose

diplomatic facilities granted these refugees sanctuary;

Whereas the Governments of China and North Korea have

begun aggressive campaigns to locate North Koreans who
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are in China without permission and to forcibly return

them to North Korea;

Whereas North Koreans who seek asylum while in China are

routinely imprisoned and tortured, and in some cases

killed, after they are returned to North Korea;

Whereas the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951, as modified by the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees of 1967, defines a refugee as a person who, ‘‘owing to well-founded fear of

being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality,

membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable

or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the

protection of that country’’;

Whereas despite China’s obligations as a party to the United

Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of

1951 and the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees

of 1967, China routinely classifies North Koreans seeking

asylum in China as mere ‘‘economic migrants’’ and returns the refugees to North Korea without regard to the

serious threat of persecution faced by the refugees after

their return;

Whereas the Government of China does not provide North

Koreans whose asylum requests are rejected a right to

have the rejection reviewed prior to deportation despite

the recommendations of the United Nations Convention

relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951 and the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees of 1967 that such

a right be granted;

Whereas people attempting to assist North Korean refugees

inside China face danger because of their efforts, includ-
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ing Chun Ki Won, a South Korean citizen detained inside

China since December 2001, and the Reverend Kim

Dong Shik, a United States permanent resident allegedly

abducted by North Korean agents inside China in January 2000; and

Whereas the Government of China recently has permitted

some North Koreans who have managed to enter foreign

diplomatic compounds to travel to South Korea via third

countries, but has forcibly repatriated to North Korea

many others captured inside China: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That Congress—

3 (1) encourages the Government of China to

4 honor its obligations under the United Nations Con5 vention relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951,

6 as modified by the Protocol relating to the Status of

7 Refugees of 1967, by—

8 (A) halting the forced repatriation of

9 North Koreans who face a well-founded fear of

10 persecution if they are returned to North

11 Korea;

12 (B) making genuine efforts to identify and

13 protect the refugees among the North Korean

14 migrants encountered by Chinese authorities,

15 including providing refugees with a reasonable

16 opportunity to request asylum;
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1 (C) providing North Korean refugees resid2 ing in China with safe asylum;

3 (D) allowing the United Nations High

4 Commissioner for Refugees to have access to all

5 North Korean refugees residing in China; and

6 (E) cooperating with the United Nations

7 High Commissioner for Refugees in efforts to

8 resettle North Korean refugees residing in

9 China to other countries;

10 (2) encourages the Secretary of State—

11 (A) to work with the Government of China

12 toward the fulfillment of its obligations de13 scribed in paragraph (1); and

14 (B) to work with concerned governments in

15 the region toward the protection of North Ko16 rean refugees residing in China;

17 (3) encourages the United Nations High Com18 missioner for Refugees to facilitate the resettlement

19 of the North Korean refugees residing in China in

20 other countries;

21 (4) encourages the Secretary of State to begin

22 efforts toward the drafting, introduction, and pas23 sage of a resolution concerning human rights in

24 North Korea at the 59th Session of the United Na25 tions Commission on Human Rights in March 2003;
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1 (5) urges the Government of China to release

2 Mr. Chun Ki Won; and

3 (6) urges the Governments of the United

4 States, South Korea, and China to seek a full ac5 counting from the Government of North Korea re6 garding the whereabouts and condition of the Rev7 erend Kim Dong Shik.

Passed the House of Representatives June 11, 2002.

Attest:

Clerk.