[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 30 (Wednesday, March 10, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H930]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         NORTH KOREA AND CHINA

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, on the issue of human rights, today there are 
between 200- and 300,000 North Korean refugees in China. Half are 
women, and while the men can find jobs as cheap laborers, most of the 
women are sold into forced labor or the sex trade.
  Despite promises, China so far has refused to grant the North Koreans 
official refugee status, claiming it would invite a flood of new 
refugees. That is a faulty argument, and China did not make it when 
Vietnamese refugees sought refuge in their borders.
  Refugee protection does not cause refugee crises. Horrifying human 
rights abuses, mass starvation, prison camps, brutal torture, forced 
abortion, and a ruler who believes that he is God causes refugee 
crises.
  It is time for China and the UNHCR to live up to their obligations, 
and it is time for Kim Jong Il to stop brutalizing his people and to 
step aside.

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