[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 213 Engrossed in House (EH)]


  2d Session

                            H. CON. RES. 213

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                         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.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 213

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                         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 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 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, including 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
    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) halting the forced repatriation of North 
                Koreans who face a well-founded fear of persecution if 
                they are returned to North Korea;
                    (B) making genuine efforts to identify and protect 
                the refugees among the North Korean migrants 
                encountered by Chinese authorities, including providing 
                refugees with a reasonable opportunity to request 
                asylum;
                    (C) providing North Korean refugees residing in 
                China with safe asylum;
                    (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 North 
                Korean refugees residing in China to other countries;
            (2) encourages the Secretary of State--
                    (A) to work with the Government of China toward the 
                fulfillment of its obligations described in paragraph 
                (1); and
                    (B) to work with concerned governments in the 
                region toward the protection of North Korean refugees 
                residing in China;
            (3) encourages the United Nations High Commissioner for 
        Refugees to facilitate the resettlement of the North Korean 
        refugees residing in China in other countries;
            (4) encourages the Secretary of State to begin efforts 
        toward the drafting, introduction, and passage of a resolution 
        concerning human rights in North Korea at the 59th Session of 
        the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in March 2003;
            (5) urges the Government of China to release Mr. Chun Ki 
        Won; and
            (6) urges the Governments of the United States, South 
        Korea, and China to seek a full accounting from the Government 
        of North Korea regarding the whereabouts and condition of the 
        Reverend Kim Dong Shik.

            Passed the House of Representatives June 11, 2002.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.