About
Our Country |
Please see this website ; http://www.tour2korea.com
|
On 'our suggestions
for the North Korean Refugees' :
It is reported in an article of 'the
Future Korea Journal' (Feb, 5th, 2005) that Vivit
Muntarbhom, Special Reppoteur for North Korean Human
Right of UNCHR, the UN Commission on Human Right,
referred to North Korean 'defectors' as 'refugees'
for the first time in the official document dating
Jan 27th. It is estimated that this small but significant
change resulted partly from the Movement of Collecting
Signatures which CNKR, the Commission to Help North
Korean Refugees, had started six years before. CNKR
collected eleven million and eight hundred thousand
people's signatures and submitted them to UN in 2001.
KPA, Korean Philosophy Association, involved in the
movement on the basis of the association and collected
one thousand and ninety five philosophers' signatures
and submitted them to CNKR and the authorities concerned.
I, as the then president of KPA, also involved in
the movement. So I still keep plenty of materials
I'd like to show to those who are concerned about
N.K refugees. I am going to put them on the materials
list. Hopefully it will help more people understand
why N.K refugees need our aid now.
Our Suggestions for the North Korean
Refugees
We, Korean philosophers in the world,
had the 1999 International Congress of Korean Philosophers,
held at Korea University in Seoul, August 17-19. During
the Congress, of which the main theme was "Korean
People and the New Millenium", we discussed the historic
problems with which the Koreans have been confronted
up to the present. In particular, we paid our special
attention to exploring philosophical and theoretical
foundations for the reunification of the Korean Peninsular,
and tried to find the best way of resuming the common
ethnic and political culture which could facilitate
the mutual understanding between South and North Korea.
Along with the philosophical and theoretical discussion,
we had to take notice of the miseries of the North
Korean refugees, who are estimated to be over three
hundred thousand. The recent years' famine sweeping
across North Korea forced them to escape from their
country to the bordering nations, especially to China,
in order to beg for food. All of us were shocked at
the miserable sight of their starvations and sufferings.
The least of their basic human rights is now being
denied and all kinds of inhumane treatments inflicted
upon them are beyond description. Moreover, we heard
from various sources that especially women and children¡¯s
sufferings were more serious. We were, therefore,
compelled to agree that the most urgent task facing
the Koreans at this moment must be to alleviate the
sufferings of North Korean refugees and to correct
the infringement on their basic human rights. This
agreement is based upon our belief in the humanitarian
fraternity for securing the basic human rights, as
well as upon our traditions of exercising communal
support and ethnic compatriotism for those in need,
irrespective of nationality, race or ideology. We
think that how to solve the problems of North Korean
refugees is the touchstone of moral and practical
capacities of Korean people who are seeking for the
reconciliation and reunification between South and
North Korea. We, therefore, claim that the South Korean
people, their NGOs, and the Korean Government should
take the first step for finding the solution to the
North Korean refugees' problems. Especially the Korean
Government should take the initiative to solve their
problems in cooperation with the North Korean Government,
the Chinese Government, and the international societies
and institutions. In making our suggestions for the
North Korean refugees, we, Korean philosophers all
over the world, note that in this year of 1999 we
are temporally situated between the 50th anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (December
10, 1948) and the coming New Millenium. At this juncture,
all human beings are expected to make firm resolutions
to solve the past problems of 20th century and march
towards the bright future of mankind on this planet.
We have no doubt that all human beings across the
world are practically entitled to the fundamental
human rights prescribed in the Declaration. Especially
we hope that both the Article 14 of the Declaration,
¡°Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other
countries asylum from persecution¡± and the Article
11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights ( December 16, 1966), ¡°The States
Parties to the present Covenant, recognizing fundamental
right of everyone to be free from hunger, shall take,
individually and through international co-operation,
the measures¡±, will be properly applied to the North
Korean refugees. According to Preamble of 1951 Convention
Relating To the Status of Refugees (July 28, 1951),
¡°The High Contracting Parties ¡¤ ¡¤ ¡¤ [are] expressing
the wish that all States, recognizing the social and
humanitarian nature of the problem of refugees, will
do everything within their power to prevent this problem
from becoming a cause of tension between States¡±.
We, Korean philosophers with various and different
nationalities, fully acknowledge that the problems
of North Korean refugees and our petition for their
being given the status of refugees should not be used
for laying the blame on, or giving a burden of responsibility
to certain States, e.g., the North Korean Government
or the Chinese Government. We, however, strongly believe
that, as the secretary-general of UN made it clear
recently, individual sovereignty as the fundamental
freedom and inherent dignity and equal rights of the
human person is more important than national sovereignty.
On the occasion of the 1st Internet Conference of
Korean Philosophers held in connection with the 1999
Congress of Korean Philosophers (from October 3 to
December 15, 1999, on the website of "http://www.kpal999.org"),
we, Korean philosophers in the world, are making an
announcement of ¡°Our Suggestions for the North Korean
refugees.¡± From the beginning of the Congress, we
have also been promoting the movement of "One Thousand
Korean Philosophers¡¯ Signatures", which, we hope,
will relay to a worldwide signature-collecting campaign
of "Ten Million People's Concern About the North Korean
Refugees". We are reconfirming earnestly the two clauses
for which we have signed. The first is that ¡°North
Korean refugees are not merely borderline transgressors,
but literal refugees seeking asylum and protection
to be free from hunger, and that they should be given
the status of refugees according to the pertinent
international treaties and laws¡±. And the second is
that ¡°the enforced repatriation of North Korean refugees
from neighboring countries should be stopped immediately
and that they should be protected in a proper asylum.¡±
On December 10, 1999, the commemoration day of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we will send
our undersigned collective petition for being given
them the status of refugees and being treated as such
to the Office of The UN High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR).
And also we will send our petition for the official
and periodic report on the rights of North Korean
refugees to the Office of The UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights(UNHCHR), and UN Human Rights Committee(HRC).
Through Internet, we will wire ¡°Our Suggestions for
the North Korean Refugees¡± to all the pertinent international
institutions and NGOs. We hope that the 1st Internet
Conference of Korean Philosophers will be a great
momentum to awaken our moral sense of responsibility
for the North Korean refugees among the Korean people
as well as among the peoples of the world. We observe
that North Korean refugees are not merely displaced
persons, but also international refugees just trying
to survive famine. They are not merely undocumented
economic migrants, even if not 'political' refugees
in the strict sense. We should realize that their
hunger and the consequent refuge have resulted mainly
from the inevitable discrimination in food rationing
according to social hierarchy and political loyalty
in their country. When expelled from the country of
refuge to their original country, they are reported
to be persecuted severely. So they are now obsessed
with the so-called "well-founded fear of being persecuted
on the occasion of repatriation". For these reasons,
the status of mandate refugees guaranteed by UNHCR
should apply to them. Here we want to note the Article
1 of 1951 Convention Relating To the Status of Refugees
(July 28, 1951), ¡°the term ¡®refugee¡¯ shall apply to
any 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;
or who ¡¤ ¡¤ ¡¤ is unwilling to return to it.¡± Thus,
we cannot but claim that the search, arrest, and enforced
return of North Korean refugees made in the country
of refuge, i.e., in China, should be immediately prohibited.
The Korean Government ought to make its utmost diplomatic
effort and provide economic support for the relief
of North Korean refugees in cooperation with the North
Korean Government and the Chinese Government. The
Korean Government should understand that launching
the relief work for them at this critical moment will
reduce the cost of the reunification of Korea at the
end. And also the Korean Government must permit various
non-governmental channels of the relief work for the
refugees so that South Korean people, religious societies,
and civil organizations can help them at their own
discretion. South Korean people should engage in a
fund-raising campaign for them. The National Assembly
of Korea should enact the necessary laws for the support
and relief of the refugees and their eventual internment
into South Korea. The North Korean Government must
stop the augment of the military forces and the discriminative
food rationing system according to ideological loyalty
and political hierarchy. Futhermore, the North Korean
Government should take actions to dispel international
suspicions about surreptitious military use of international
food aids for civilians, and try to recover its international
creditability. In sum, we, Korean Philosophers across
the world taking part in the 1st Internet Conference
of Korean Philosophers, have determined to make the
following suggestions for North Korean refugees, with
the over one thousand Korean philosophers' signatures.
1. The United Nations and especially the Office of
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) should
investigate the situations of the North Korean refugees
in neighboring country, China, and give them the status
of mandate refugees according to The 1967 Protocol
Relating To The Status of Refugees. 2. The People¡¯s
Republic of China Government should permit and facilitate
the investigation activities of UN and UNHCR, and
set up refugee camps for the North Korean refugees
in proper places. The arrest, expulsion, and enforced
repatriation of North Korean refugees in the Chinese
territory should be stopped immediately. 3. The Democratic
People¡¯s Republic of Korea Government should not give
any penalty to the refugees who voluntarily return,
and who are involuntarily returned from the country
of refuge. 4. The Republic of Korea Government should
make the request for the relief of North Korean refugees
to UN, and show the willingness to intern them into
her own territory. The Korean Government should recognize
that the state making the request for the relief is
in charge of all expenses incurred as a result of
the internment of the North Korean refugees into China
or South Korea. Thus the Korean Government should
establish the compilation of the budget for the refugees.
5. Because this tragic situation have arisen from
North Korea¡¯s food shortage, the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea Government, UN, and the Republic
of Korea Government should take, individually and
through international cooperation, the measures to
improve methods of production, conservation, and distribution
of food in the North Korean territory. December 8th,
1999 Cho-Sik Lee President of KPA, the Korean Philosophical
Association Professor of Philosophy at Korea University
in Seoul, Korea On behalf of the Korean Philosophers
across the world participating in the 1st Internet
Conference of Korean Philosophers .
|
|
|
|
|
|