Text: Resolution Urges China to Halt North Korean Repatriations
(H. Con. Res. 213 says Pyongyang regime tortures returnees)A group of U.S. lawmakers have submitted a resolution that calls on one communist country to stop repatriating refugees who have fled from another communist country.
Representative Edward Royce (Republican of California) and eight co-sponsors introduced House Concurrent Resolution 213 (H. Con. Res. 213) August 2 which expresses the sense of Congress that North Koreans, who have fled from the hardship of the Pyongyang regime to China, should not be sent back to North Korea.
H. Con. Res. 213 says that such refugees "are routinely imprisoned and tortured, and in some cases killed, after they are returned to North Korea."
The proposed resolution calls on China to "honor its 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 by, among other things, "providing North Korean refugees residing in China with a safe asylum."
It also calls on Beijing to allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees "to have access to all North Korean refugees residing in China." H. Con. Res. 213 says at least one million 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."
The proposed resolution also notes that 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."
Following is the text of House Concurrent Resolution 213 from the Congressional Record:
(begin text)
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding North Korean refugees who are detained in China and returned to North Korea where they face torture, imprisonment, and execution
Introduced in the House
HCON 213 IH
107th CONGRESS
1st SessionH. CON. RES. 213
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding North Korean refugees who are detained in China and returned to North Korea where they face torture, imprisonment, and execution.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 2, 2001
Mr. ROYCE (for himself, Mr. BECERRA, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. KIRK, and Mr. HORN) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding North Korean refugees who are detained in China and returned to North Korea where they face torture, imprisonment, and execution.
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 to foreign broadcasts, possessing printed matter that is considered reactionary by the Korean Workers Party, and holding prohibited religious beliefs;
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 Korean refugees are estimated to be residing in China without the permission of the Government of China;
Whereas the Governments of China and North Korea have begun aggressive campaigns to locate North Koreans who are in China without permission and to forcibly return them to North Korea;
Whereas North Koreans who seek asylum 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; and
Whereas the Government of China recently permitted the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to resettle 7 North Korean refugees in South Korea: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That Congress
(1) encourages the Government of China to honor its obligations under 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, by--
(A) making genuine efforts to identify and protect the refugees among the North Korean migrants encountered by Chinese authorities, including providing the refugees with a reasonably opportunity to request asylum;
(B) providing North Korean refugees residing in China with a safe asylum;
(C) halting the forced repatriations of North Korean refugees seeking asylum in China;
(D) allowing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to have access to all North Korean refugees residing in China; and
(E) cooperating with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in efforts to resettle the North Korean refugees residing in China in other countries; and
(2) encourages the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to facilitate the resettlement of the North Korean refugees residing in China in other countries. (end text)
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