108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4011

AN ACT

To promote human rights and freedom in the

other purposes.Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and for

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4011

AN ACT

To promote human rights and freedom in the Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘North Korean Human

3 Rights Act of 2004’’.

4 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

5 The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.

Sec. 2. Table of contents.

Sec. 3. Findings.

Sec. 4. Purposes.

Sec. 5. Definitions.

TITLE I—PROMOTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF NORTH KOREANS

Sec. 101. Sense of Congress regarding negotiations with North Korea.

Sec. 102. Support for human rights and democracy programs.

Sec. 103. Radio broadcasting to North Korea.

Sec. 104. Actions to promote freedom of information.

Sec. 105. United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

TITLE II—ASSISTING NORTH KOREANS IN NEED

Sec. 201. Report on United States humanitarian assistance.

Sec. 202. Assistance provided inside North Korea.

Sec. 203. Assistance provided outside of North Korea.

TITLE III—PROTECTING NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES

Sec. 301. United States policy toward refugees and defectors.

Sec. 302. Eligibility for refugee or asylum consideration.

Sec. 303. Facilitating submission of applications for admission as a refugee.

Sec. 304. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Sec. 305. Annual reports.

6 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) According to the Department of State, the

9 Government of North Korea is ‘‘a dictatorship under

10 the absolute rule of Kim Jong Il’’ that continues to

11 commit numerous, serious human rights abuses.

12 (2) The Government of North Korea attempts

13 to control all information, artistic expression, aca-
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1 demic works, and media activity inside North Korea

2 and strictly curtails freedom of speech and access to

3 foreign broadcasts.

4 (3) The Government of North Korea subjects

5 all its citizens to systematic, intensive political and

6 ideological indoctrination in support of the cult of

7 personality glorifying Kim Jong Il and the late Kim

8 Il Sung that approaches the level of a state religion.

9 (4) The Government of North Korea divides its

10 population into categories, based on perceived loyalty

11 to the leadership, which determines access to food,

12 employment, higher education, place of residence,

13 medical facilities, and other resources.

14 (5) According to the Department of State,

15 ‘‘[t]he [North Korean] Penal Code is [d]raconian,

16 stipulating capital punishment and confiscation of

17 assets for a wide variety of ‘crimes against the revo18 lution,’ including defection, attempted defection,

19 slander of the policies of the Party or State, listen20 ing to foreign broadcasts, writing ‘reactionary’ let21 ters, and possessing reactionary printed matter’’.

22 (6) The Government of North Korea executes

23 political prisoners, opponents of the regime, some re24 patriated defectors, some members of underground
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1 churches, and others, sometimes at public meetings

2 attended by workers, students, and schoolchildren.

3 (7) The Government of North Korea holds an

4 estimated 200,000 political prisoners in camps that

5 its State Security Agency manages through the use

6 of forced labor, beatings, torture, and executions,

7 and in which many prisoners also die from disease,

8 starvation, and exposure.

9 (8) According to eyewitness testimony provided

10 to the United States Congress by North Korean

11 camp survivors, camp inmates have been used as

12 sources of slave labor for the production of export

13 goods, as targets for martial arts practice, and as

14 experimental victims in the testing of chemical and

15 biological poisons.

16 (9) According to credible reports, including eye17 witness testimony provided to the United States

18 Congress, North Korean Government officials pro19 hibit live births in prison camps, and forced abortion

20 and the killing of newborn babies are standard pris21 on practices.

22 (10) According to the Department of State,

23 ‘‘[g]enuine religious freedom does not exist in North

24 Korea’’ and, according to the United States Com25 mission on International Religious Freedom, ‘‘[t]he
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1 North Korean state severely represses public and

2 private religious activities’’ with penalties that re3 portedly include arrest, imprisonment, torture, and

4 sometimes execution.

5 (11) More than 2,000,000 North Koreans are

6 estimated to have died of starvation since the early

7 1990s because of the failure of the centralized agri8 cultural and public distribution systems operated by

9 the Government of North Korea.

10 (12) According to a 2002 United Nations-Euro11 pean Union survey, nearly one out of every ten chil12 dren in North Korea suffers from acute malnutrition

13 and four out of every ten children in North Korea

14 are chronically malnourished.

15 (13) Since 1995, the United States has pro16 vided more than 2,000,000 tons of humanitarian

17 food assistance to the people of North Korea, pri18 marily through the World Food Program.

19 (14) Although United States food assistance

20 has undoubtedly saved many North Korean lives and

21 there have been minor improvements in transparency

22 relating to the distribution of such assistance in

23 North Korea, the Government of North Korea con24 tinues to deny the World Food Program forms of ac25 cess necessary to properly monitor the delivery of
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1 food aid, including the ability to conduct random site

2 visits, the use of native Korean-speaking employees,

3 and travel access throughout North Korea.

4 (15) The risk of starvation, the threat of perse5 cution, and the lack of freedom and opportunity in

6 North Korea have caused large numbers, perhaps

7 even hundreds of thousands, of North Koreans to

8 flee their homeland, primarily into China.

9 (16) North Korean women and girls, particu10 larly those who have fled into China, are at risk of

11 being kidnapped, trafficked, and sexually exploited

12 inside China, where many are sold as brides or con13 cubines, or forced to work as prostitutes.

14 (17) The Governments of China and North

15 Korea have been conducting aggressive campaigns to

16 locate North Koreans who are in China without per17 mission and to forcibly return them to North Korea,

18 where they routinely face torture and imprisonment,

19 and sometimes execution.

20 (18) Despite China’s obligations as a party to

21 the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the

22 Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol Relating

23 to the Status of Refugees China routinely classifies

24 North Koreans seeking asylum in China as mere

25 ‘‘economic migrants’’ and returns them to North
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1 Korea without regard to the serious threat of perse2 cution they face upon their return.

3 (19) The Government of China does not provide

4 North Koreans whose asylum requests are rejected

5 a right to have the rejection reviewed prior to depor6 tation despite its obligations under the 1951 United

7 Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refu8 gees and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status

9 of Refugees.

10 (20) North Koreans who seek asylum while in

11 China are routinely imprisoned and tortured, and in

12 some cases killed, after they are returned to North

13 Korea.

14 (21) The Government of China has detained,

15 convicted, and imprisoned foreign aid workers at16 tempting to assist North Korean refugees, including

17 the Reverend Choi Bong Il, in proceedings that did

18 not comply with Chinese law or international stand19 ards.

20 (22) In January 2000, North Korean agents in21 side China allegedly abducted the Reverend Kim

22 Dong-shik, a United States permanent resident and

23 advocate for North Korean refugees, whose condition

24 and whereabouts remain unknown.
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1 (23) Between 1994 and 2003, South Korea has

2 admitted approximately 3,800 North Korean refu3 gees for domestic resettlement, a number small in

4 comparison with the total number of North Korean

5 escapees, but far greater than the number legally

6 admitted by any other country.

7 (24) Although the principal responsibility for

8 North Korean refugee resettlement naturally falls to

9 the Government of South Korea, the United States

10 should play a leadership role in focusing inter11 national attention on the plight of these refugees,

12 and formulating international solutions to that pro13 found humanitarian dilemma.

14 (25) In addition to infringing the rights of its

15 own citizens, the Government of North Korea has

16 been responsible in years past for the abduction of

17 numerous citizens of South Korea and Japan, whose

18 condition and whereabouts remain unknown.

19 SEC. 4. PURPOSES.

20 The purposes of this Act are—

21 (1) to promote respect for and protection of

22 fundamental human rights in North Korea;

23 (2) to promote a more durable humanitarian so24 lution to the plight of North Korean refugees;
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1 (3) to promote increased monitoring, access,

2 and transparency in the provision of humanitarian

3 assistance inside North Korea;

4 (4) to promote the free flow of information into

5 and out of North Korea; and

6 (5) to promote progress toward the peaceful re7 unification of the Korean peninsula under a demo8 cratic system of government.

9 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

10 In this Act:

11 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT12 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com13 mittees’’ means—

14 (A) the Committee on International Rela15 tions of the House of Representatives; and

16 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of

17 the Senate.

18 (2) CHINA.—The term ‘‘China’’ means the Peo19 ple’s Republic of China.

20 (3) HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.—The term

21 ‘‘humanitarian assistance’’ means assistance to meet

22 humanitarian needs, including needs for food, medi23 cine, medical supplies, clothing, and shelter.

24 (4) NORTH KOREA.—The term ‘‘North Korea’’

25 means the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
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1 (5) NORTH KOREANS.—The term ‘‘North Kore2 ans’’ means persons who are citizens or nationals of

3 North Korea.

4 (6) SOUTH KOREA.—The term ‘‘South Korea’’

5 means the Republic of Korea.

6 TITLE I—PROMOTING THE

7 HUMAN RIGHTS OF NORTH

8 KOREANS

9 SEC. 101. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING NEGOTIATIONS

10 WITH NORTH KOREA.

11 It is the sense of Congress that the human rights of

12 North Koreans should remain a key element in future ne13 gotiations between the United States, North Korea, and

14 other concerned parties in Northeast Asia.

15 SEC. 102. SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY

16 PROGRAMS.

17 (a) SUPPORT.—The President is authorized to pro18 vide grants to private, nonprofit organizations to support

19 programs that promote human rights, democracy, rule of

20 law, and the development of a market economy in North

21 Korea. Such programs may include appropriate edu22 cational and cultural exchange programs with North Ko23 rean participants, to the extent not otherwise prohibited

24 by law.

25 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

2 appropriated to the President $2,000,000 for each of

3 the fiscal years 2005 through 2008 to carry out this

4 section.

5 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur6 suant to the authorization of appropriations under

7 paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available

8 until expended.

9 SEC. 103. RADIO BROADCASTING TO NORTH KOREA.

10 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con11 gress that the United States should facilitate the

12 unhindered dissemination of information in North Korea

13 by increasing its support for radio broadcasting to North

14 Korea, and that the Broadcasting Board of Governors

15 should increase broadcasts to North Korea from current

16 levels, with a goal of providing 12-hour-per-day broad17 casting to North Korea, including broadcasts by Radio

18 Free Asia and Voice of America.

19 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date

20 of the enactment of this Act, the Broadcasting Board of

21 Governors shall submit to the appropriate congressional

22 committees a report that—

23 (1) describes the status of current United

24 States broadcasting to North Korea; and
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1 (2) outlines a plan for increasing such broad2 casts to 12 hours per day, including a detailed de3 scription of the technical and fiscal requirements

4 necessary to implement the plan.

5 SEC. 104. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF INFORMA6 TION.

7 (a) ACTIONS.—The President is authorized to take

8 such actions as may be necessary to increase the avail9 ability of information inside North Korea by increasing

10 the availability of sources of information not controlled by

11 the Government of North Korea, including sources such

12 as radios capable of receiving broadcasting from outside

13 North Korea.

14 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

16 appropriated to the President $2,000,000 for each of

17 the fiscal years 2005 through 2008 to carry out sub18 section (a).

19 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur20 suant to the authorization of appropriations under

21 paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available

22 until expended.

23 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date

24 of the enactment of this Act, and in each of the 3 years

25 thereafter, the Secretary of State, after consultation with
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1 the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and

2 agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional

3 committees a report, in classified form, on actions taken

4 pursuant to this section.

5 SEC. 105. UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN

6 RIGHTS.

7 It is the sense of Congress that the United Nations

8 has a significant role to play in promoting and improving

9 human rights in North Korea, and that—

10 (1) the United Nations Commission on Human

11 Rights (UNCHR) has taken positive steps by adopt12 ing Resolution 2003/10 and Resolution 2004/13 on

13 the situation of human rights in North Korea, and

14 particularly by requesting the appointment of a Spe15 cial Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in

16 North Korea; and

17 (2) the severe human rights violations within

18 North Korea warrant country-specific attention and

19 reporting by the United Nations Working Group on

20 Arbitrary Detention, the Working Group on En21 forced and Involuntary Disappearances, the Special

22 Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary

23 Executions, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to

24 Food, the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and

25 Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and
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1 Expression, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of

2 Religion or Belief, and the Special Rapporteur on

3 Violence Against Women.

4 TITLE II—ASSISTING NORTH

5 KOREANS IN NEED

6 SEC. 201. REPORT ON UNITED STATES HUMANITARIAN AS7 SISTANCE.

8 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date

9 of the enactment of this Act, and in each of the 2 years

10 thereafter, the Administrator of the United States Agency

11 for International Development, in conjunction with the

12 Secretary of State, shall submit to the appropriate con13 gressional committees a report that describes—

14 (1) all activities to provide humanitarian assist15 ance inside North Korea, and to North Koreans out16 side of North Korea, that receive United States

17 funding;

18 (2) any improvements in humanitarian trans19 parency, monitoring, and access inside North Korea

20 during the previous 1-year period, including progress

21 toward meeting the conditions identified in para22 graphs (1) through (4) of section 202(b); and

23 (3) specific efforts to secure improved humani24 tarian transparency, monitoring, and access inside

25 North Korea made by the United States and United
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1 States grantees, including the World Food Program,

2 during the previous 1-year period.

3 (b) FORM.—The information required by subsection

4 (a)(1) may be provided in classified form if necessary.

5 SEC. 202. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED INSIDE NORTH KOREA.

6 (a) HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE THROUGH NON7 GOVERNMENTAL AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZA8 TIONS.—It is the sense of the Congress that—

9 (1) at the same time that Congress supports

10 the provision of humanitarian assistance to the peo11 ple of North Korea on humanitarian grounds, such

12 assistance also should be provided and monitored so

13 as to minimize the possibility that such assistance

14 could be diverted to political or military use, and to

15 maximize the likelihood that it will reach the most

16 vulnerable North Koreans;

17 (2) significant increases above current levels of

18 United States support for humanitarian assistance

19 provided inside North Korea should be conditioned

20 upon substantial improvements in transparency,

21 monitoring, and access to vulnerable populations

22 throughout North Korea; and

23 (3) the United States should encourage other

24 countries that provide food and other humanitarian

25 assistance to North Korea to do so through mon-
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1 itored, transparent channels, rather than through di2 rect, bilateral transfers to the Government of North

3 Korea.

4 (b) HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERN5 MENT OF NORTH KOREA.—No department, agency, or en6 tity of the United States Government may provide human7 itarian assistance to any department, agency, or entity of

8 the Government of North Korea unless such United States

9 Government department, agency, or entity certifies in

10 writing to the appropriate congressional committees that

11 the Government of North Korea has taken steps to ensure

12 that—

13 (1) such assistance is delivered, distributed, and

14 monitored according to internationally recognized

15 humanitarian standards;

16 (2) such assistance is provided on a needs basis,

17 and is not used as a political reward or tool of coer18 cion;

19 (3) such assistance reaches the intended bene20 ficiaries, who are informed of the source of the as21 sistance; and

22 (4) humanitarian access to all vulnerable

23 groups in North Korea is allowed, no matter where

24 in the country they may be located.
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1 (c) NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE GOV2 ERNMENT OF NORTH KOREA.—No department, agency,

3 or entity of the United States Government may provide

4 nonhumanitarian assistance to any department, agency, or

5 entity of the Government of North Korea unless such

6 United States Government department, agency, or entity

7 certifies in writing to the appropriate congressional com8 mittees that the Government of North Korea has made

9 substantial progress toward—

10 (1) respecting and protecting basic human

11 rights, including freedom of religion, of the people of

12 North Korea;

13 (2) providing for significant family reunification

14 between North Koreans and their descendants and

15 relatives in the United States;

16 (3) fully disclosing all information regarding

17 citizens of Japan and the Republic of Korea ab18 ducted by the Government of North Korea;

19 (4) allowing such abductees, along with their

20 families, complete and genuine freedom to leave

21 North Korea and return to the abductees’ original

22 home countries;

23 (5) significantly reforming its prison and labor

24 camp system, and subjecting such reforms to inde25 pendent international monitoring; and
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1 (6) decriminalizing political expression and ac2 tivity.

3 (d) WAIVER.—The President may waive the prohibi4 tion contained in subsection (b) or (c) if the President de5 termines that it is in the national security interest of the

6 United States to do so. Prior to exercising the waiver au7 thority contained in the preceding sentence, the President

8 shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees

9 a report that contains the determination of the President

10 pursuant to the preceding sentence and a description of

11 the assistance to be provided.

12 SEC. 203. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED OUTSIDE OF NORTH

13 KOREA.

14 (a) ASSISTANCE.—The President is authorized to

15 provide assistance to support organizations or persons

16 that provide humanitarian assistance to North Koreans

17 who are outside of North Korea without the permission

18 of the Government of North Korea.

19 (b) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance provided

20 under subsection (a) should be used to provide—

21 (1) humanitarian assistance to North Korean

22 refugees, defectors, migrants, and orphans outside of

23 North Korea, which may include support for refugee

24 camps or temporary settlements; and
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1 (2) humanitarian assistance to North Korean

2 women outside of North Korea who are victims of

3 trafficking, as defined in section 103(14) of the

4 Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22

5 U.S.C. 7102(14)), or are in danger of being traf6 ficked.

7 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to funds other9 wise available for such purposes, there are author10 ized to be appropriated to the President

11 $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005

12 through 2008 to carry out this section.

13 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur14 suant to the authorization of appropriations under

15 paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available

16 until expended.

17 TITLE III—PROTECTING NORTH

18 KOREAN REFUGEES

19 SEC. 301. UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD REFUGEES AND

20 DEFECTORS.

21 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date

22 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in

23 consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal

24 departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate

25 congressional committees and the Committees on the Ju-
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1 diciary of the House of Representatives and the Senate

2 a report that describes the situation of North Korean refu3 gees and explains United States Government policy toward

4 North Korean nationals outside of North Korea.

5 (b) CONTENTS.—The report shall include—

6 (1) an assessment of the circumstances facing

7 North Korean refugees and migrants in hiding, par8 ticularly in China, and of the circumstances they

9 face if forcibly returned to North Korea;

10 (2) an assessment of whether North Koreans in

11 China have effective access to personnel of the

12 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,

13 and of whether the Government of China is fulfilling

14 its obligations under the 1951 Convention Relating

15 to the Status of Refugees, particularly Articles 31,

16 32, and 33 of such Convention;

17 (3) an assessment of whether North Koreans

18 presently have unobstructed access to United States

19 refugee and asylum processing, and of United States

20 policy toward North Koreans who may present

21 themselves at United States embassies or consulates

22 and request protection as refugees or asylum seekers

23 and resettlement in the United States;
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1 (4) the total number of North Koreans who

2 have been admitted into the United States as refu3 gees or asylees in each of the past five years;

4 (5) an estimate of the number of North Kore5 ans with family connections to United States citi6 zens; and

7 (6) a description of the measures that the Sec8 retary of State is taking to carry out section 303.

9 (c) FORM.—The information required by paragraphs

10 (1) through (5) of subsection (b) shall be provided in un11 classified form. All or part of the information required by

12 subsection (b)(6) may be provided in classified form, if

13 necessary.

14 SEC. 302. ELIGIBILITY FOR REFUGEE OR ASYLUM CONSID15 ERATION.

16 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to clar17 ify that North Koreans are not barred from eligibility for

18 refugee status or asylum in the United States on account

19 of any legal right to citizenship they may enjoy under the

20 Constitution of the Republic of Korea. It is not intended

21 in any way to prejudice whatever rights to citizenship

22 North Koreans may enjoy under the Constitution of the

23 Republic of Korea, or to apply to former North Korean

24 nationals who have availed themselves of those rights.
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1 (b) TREATMENT OF NATIONALS OF NORTH

2 KOREA.—For purposes of eligibility for refugee status

3 under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act

4 (8 U.S.C. 1157), or for asylum under section 208 of such

5 Act (8 U.S.C. 1158), a national of the Democratic Peo6 ple’s Republic of Korea shall not be considered a national

7 of the Republic of Korea.

8 SEC. 303. FACILITATING SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS

9 FOR ADMISSION AS A REFUGEE.

10 The Secretary of State shall undertake to facilitate

11 the submission of applications under section 207 of the

12 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) by citi13 zens of North Korea seeking protection as refugees (as

14 defined in section 101(a)(42) of such Act (8 U.S.C.

15 1101(a)(42)).

16 SEC. 304. UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REF17 UGEES.

18 (a) ACTIONS IN CHINA.—It is the sense of Congress

19 that—

20 (1) the Government of China has obligated

21 itself to provide the United Nations High Commis22 sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with unimpeded ac23 cess to North Koreans inside its borders to enable

24 the UNHCR to determine whether they are refugees

25 and whether they require assistance, pursuant to the
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1 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the

2 Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Relating to

3 the Status of Refugees, and Article III, paragraph

4 5 of the 1995 Agreement on the Upgrading of the

5 UNHCR Mission in the People’s Republic of China

6 to UNHCR Branch Office in the People’s Republic

7 of China (referred to in this section as the

8 ‘‘UNHCR Mission Agreement’’);

9 (2) the United States, other UNHCR donor

10 governments, and UNHCR should persistently and

11 at the highest levels continue to urge the Govern12 ment of China to abide by its previous commitments

13 to allow UNHCR unimpeded access to North Ko14 rean refugees inside China;

15 (3) the UNHCR, in order to effectively carry

16 out its mandate to protect refugees, should liberally

17 employ as professionals or Experts on Mission per18 sons with significant experience in humanitarian as19 sistance work among displaced North Koreans in

20 China;

21 (4) the UNHCR, in order to effectively carry

22 out its mandate to protect refugees, should liberally

23 contract with appropriate nongovernmental organi24 zations that have a proven record of providing hu-
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1 manitarian assistance to displaced North Koreans in

2 China;

3 (5) the UNHCR should pursue a multilateral

4 agreement to adopt an effective ‘‘first asylum’’ pol5 icy that guarantees safe haven and assistance to

6 North Korean refugees; and

7 (6) should the Government of China begin ac8 tively fulfilling its obligations toward North Korean

9 refugees, all countries, including the United States,

10 and relevant international organizations should in11 crease levels of humanitarian assistance provided in12 side China to help defray costs associated with the

13 North Korean refugee presence.

14 (b) ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS.—It is further the

15 sense of Congress that—

16 (1) if the Government of China continues to

17 refuse to provide the UNHCR with access to North

18 Koreans within its borders, the UNHCR should ini19 tiate arbitration proceedings pursuant to Article

20 XVI of the UNHCR Mission Agreement and appoint

21 an arbitrator for the UNHCR; and

22 (2) because access to refugees is essential to the

23 UNHCR mandate and to the purpose of a UNHCR

24 branch office, a failure to assert those arbitration

25 rights in present circumstances would constitute a
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1 significant abdication by the UNHCR of one of its

2 core responsibilities.

3 SEC. 305. ANNUAL REPORTS.

4 (a) IMMIGRATION INFORMATION.—Not later than 1

5 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every

6 12 months thereafter for each of the following 5 years,

7 the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Se8 curity shall submit a joint report to the appropriate con9 gressional committees and the Committees on the Judici10 ary of the House of Representatives and the Senate on

11 the operation of this title during the previous year, which

12 shall include—

13 (1) the number of aliens who are nationals or

14 citizens of North Korea who applied for political asy15 lum and the number who were granted political asy16 lum; and

17 (2) the number of aliens who are nationals or

18 citizens of North Korea who applied for refugee sta19 tus and the number who were granted refugee sta20 tus.

21 (b) COUNTRIES OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.—The

22 President shall include in each annual report on proposed

23 refugee admission pursuant to section 207(d) of the Immi24 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157(d)), informa25 tion about specific measures taken to facilitate access to
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1 the United States refugee program for individuals who

2 have fled countries of particular concern for violations of

3 religious freedom, identified pursuant to section 402(b) of

4 the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22

5 U.S.C. 6442(b)). The report shall include, for each coun6 try of particular concern, a description of access of the

7 nationals or former habitual residents of that country to

8 a refugee determination on the basis of—

9 (1) referrals by external agencies to a refugee

10 adjudication;

11 (2) groups deemed to be of special humani12 tarian concern to the United States for purposes of

13 refugee resettlement; and

14 (3) family links to the United States.

Passed the House of Representatives July 21, 2004.

Attest:

Clerk.