[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 165 (Monday, October 29, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H12109-H12112]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CALLING ON CHINA TO RESPECT THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF REFUGEES FROM NORTH
KOREA
Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 234) calling on the Government of
the People's Republic of China to respect the human rights of refugees
from North Korea.
The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:
H. Con. Res. 234
Whereas the Government of North Korea is a dictatorial
regime that commits gross human rights violations against the
North Korean people;
Whereas the Government of North Korea attempts to exert
absolute control over the lives of North Koreans through the
use of deplorable systems of punishment and torture and by
restricting the flow of information;
Whereas the Government of North Korea engages in the
systematic torture, unlawful detainment, and mass murder of
tens of thousands of political prisoners, defectors, and
refugees, employing the world's most brutal concentration
camp system;
Whereas the lack of freedom, government persecution, and
policies of selective starvation have driven hundreds of
thousands of North Koreans to northeast China, fleeing for
their lives from prison camps or political persecution;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China
forcibly repatriates North Korean refugees and imprisons
foreign aid workers who try to assist North Korean refugees
inside China;
Whereas to encourage these repatriation efforts, Chinese
central government authorities assign local public security
bureaus in northeastern China a target number of North
Koreans that they must detain in order to receive favorable
work evaluations;
Whereas the refugees returned to North Korea by the
Government of the People's Republic of China face
imprisonment, brutal persecution, or execution;
Whereas up to 90 percent of North Korean women refugees
fall prey to traffickers in China who sell the refugees into
sexual slavery;
Whereas the United Nations Convention relating to the
Status of Refugees, done at Geneva on July 28, 1951 (189 UNTS
150), as modified by the Protocol relating to the Status of
Refugees, done at New York on January 31, 1967 (606 UNTS
267), 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 the Government of the People's Republic of China
violates its obligations under the United Nations Convention
relating to the Status of Refugees and the Protocol relating
to the Status of Refugees by impeding access to the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and
continually classifying North Korean refugees as ``economic
migrants'', denying them asylum and forcibly returning them
to North Korea without the review to which they are entitled;
Whereas the UNHCR fails to robustly press the Government of
the People's Republic of China to grant the UNHCR access to
North Korean refugees and has failed in initiate a binding
arbitration proceeding against the Government of the People's
Republic of China pursuant to the terms of Article XIV of the
Agreement on Upgrading of the UNHCR Mission in the People's
Republic of China to the UNHCR Branch Office in the People's
Republic of China, done at Geneva on December 1, 1995,
governing refugee access and the refugee designation process;
Whereas the UNHCR's failure to bring such an arbitration
proceeding was determined by the United States Congress in
the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-
333; 22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.) to constitute a ``a significant
abdication by the UNHCR of one of its core
responsibilities'';
Whereas the failure of the People's Republic of China to
abide by its treaty obligations toward the United Nations is
a critical means by which the Government of North Korea is
allowed to subject the people of North Korea to persecution
and effectively imprison them within its borders;
Whereas Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea Jay
Lefkowitz testified before the House Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment
on March 1, 2007, that ``the fact that the Government of
China is not honoring its international commitments, is not
providing genuine access as it is required to the U.N. High
Commissioner on Human Rights, I think is really the single
most significant issue we have outside of the North Korean
Government's own emigration policies that is a barrier now to
the free movement of people in that region'';
Whereas the International Parliamentarians Coalition for
North Korean Refugees' Human Rights, a coalition of
parliamentarians from across the globe, met in Seoul, South
Korea, on August 29, 2007, and called on the international
community to increase its efforts to protect North Korean
refugees; and
Whereas the Korean-American community, acting through
various religious and civic organizations, including the
``Let My People Go Campaign'', has worked to bring awareness
to the plight of the hundreds of thousands North Korean
refugees living in China: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That Congress--
(1) strongly encourages the Government of the People's
Republic of China to honor its obligations under the United
Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, done
at Geneva on July 28, 1951 (189 UNTS 150), as modified by the
Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, done at New York
on January 31, 1967 (606 UNTS 267), 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; and
[[Page H12110]]
(C) granting the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees unfettered access to such refugees to determine
their status and the degree of assistance to which they are
entitled; and
(2) recognizes the efforts of the Korean-American community
for bringing attention to the plight of North Korean
refugees.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Tanner) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
General Leave
Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Tennessee?
There was no objection.
Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume
in speaking on behalf and in support of this resolution.
I would first like to thank our colleague, the ranking member of the
Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, Ed Royce of
California, for introducing this resolution.
North Korea is quite literally, as we know from satellite images, one
of the darkest places on Earth. One can see that when these images are
taken from space at night. It has an underdeveloped economy which
cannot supply even the most basic utilities. People there live under
this darkness.
It's well-known that the North Korean regime regularly uses
imprisonment, forced labor, torture and execution to intimidate the
people into submission. Therefore, many try to flee their country each
year, thousands crossing into northeastern China.
Some are driven by starvation or desperate poverty. Some flee because
they fear persecution for their thoughts and beliefs.
I would say that given this situation most North Koreans, given the
choice, would leave. So the regime clamps down ruthlessly to stop this
flow of refugees.
Yet, the sad fact is that those who successfully make it may face
further human rights abuses by the Government of the People's Republic
of China. Beijing is fearful of attracting too many refugees. So it
tries to disincentivize the North Koreans.
The government sometimes imprisons these people who cross into China;
and in an attempt to avoid its responsibilities under the United
Nations Conventions and Protocols that govern the status of refugees,
to which the PRC is a signatory, China falsely labels North Korean
refugees as economic migrants.
This cynical excuse Beijing uses to thwart the legitimate needs of
these refugees will not allow the U.N. High Commissioner of Refugees
access to northeastern China to assess the welfare of the North Koreans
who are there.
The disturbing truth is that those in China go to great lengths to
attract North Korean refugees through sex and labor trafficking.
H. Con. Res. 234 calls on Beijing to stop this awful charade and live
up to its moral and legal obligations. It further demands that China
stop repatriating North Korean refugees; that it honor the United
Nations Conventions and honor the status of refugees; and that it
provide unfettered access to the U.N. High Commissioner on this
subject.
Mr. Speaker, I support this resolution.
North Korea is quite literally one of the darkest places on Earth.
Satellite images show us that North Korea at night is covered in an
eerie black, in sharp contrast to the bright lights emanating from the
lively, modern cities that dot the rest of North East Asia.
This dramatic image is stark evidence of North Korea's backwards,
underdeveloped economy, which cannot supply even the most basic
utilities.
But it is also a cold reminder of the horrific conditions that the
North Korean people, who live under the cover of this darkness, must
endure.
It is well known that the North Korean regime regularly uses
imprisonment, forced labor, torture, and execution to intimidate the
people of North Korea into submission.
It is no wonder that so many North Koreans attempt to flee their
country. Each year, thousands and thousands cross the border into
Northeastern China.
Some are driven by starvation or desperate poverty. Some flee because
they fear persecution for their thoughts, beliefs, or simply because a
member of the regime has arbitrarily labeled them a risk.
Pyongyang knows that given the choice most North Koreans would leave,
and so the regime clamps down ruthlessly to try and stop the flow,
making an already dangerous trek even more perilous.
Yet, the sad fact is that those who successfully brave the hazards of
the border crossing face further human rights abuses by the government
of the People's Republic of China on the other side.
Beijing is fearful of attracting too many refugees, and so it
brutally tries to create disincentives for North Korean refugees.
The government imprisons North Koreans who cross into China,
subjecting them to terrible conditions and abuse, only to repatriate
them to North Korea, where they face likely torture or execution.
In an attempt to avoid its responsibilities under the United Nations
Conventions and Protocols that govern the status of refugees, to which
the PRC is a signatory, China falsely labels North Korean refugees
``economic migrants.''
Using this cynical excuse Beijing stubbornly refuses to provide for
the legitimate needs of these refugees and will not allow the U.N. High
Commissioner of Refugees access to Northeastern China to assess the
welfare of North Koreans there.
The disturbing truth is that there are those in China who go to great
lengths to attract North Korean refugees, through sex and labor
trafficking.
H. Con. Res. 234 calls on Beijing to stop this awful charade, and
live up to its moral and legal obligations. It demands that China stop
repatriating North Korean refugees, that it honor the United Nations
Conventions that govern the status of refugees, and that it provide
unfettered access to the U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees so that
these people who have suffered so terribly can finally receive the
protection and fair treatment they so richly need and deserve.
I strongly support this resolution and encourage my colleagues to do
the same.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony that was held for
His Holiness the Dalai Lama earlier this month served to remind us all
once again that the Chinese leadership has a long way to go before it
becomes a responsible stakeholder in the international community.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the callous disregard of
Beijing of its international treaty obligations with regard to
refugees, both North Korean and Tibetan.
The international press has reported incidents of Chinese border
guards shooting and killing both North Korean and Tibetan refugees as
they sought to flee China. These reprehensible acts must stop at once.
Earlier this month, Beijing demonstrated once again its continued
contempt for the international refugee conventions. Chinese police
entered the South Korean international school in Beijing to drag North
Korean refugees from their hiding places. North Korean refugees had
sought sanctuary there.
In the process, the Chinese police roughed up South Korean diplomats
who were sent by their government to assist these refugees.
I call on Beijing to act in accordance with the international refugee
conventions that it has signed and to end the disrespect that it has
shown toward the diplomats of a major ally of the United States.
This resolution, put forward by my good friend, Ed Royce of
California, is particularly timely and essential with the approach of
the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Olympic hosts should not include
oppressors of refugees.
The forced repatriation of North Korean refugees is both
irresponsible and immoral. If ever there was a refugee population who
faced the immediate threat of persecution upon return to their
homeland, it is the tens of thousands of North Korean refugees now
hiding in China.
The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, must
also do a much better job in holding Beijing accountable for its
reckless disregard of its obligations. If Beijing does not begin to
address this urgent issue in a
[[Page H12111]]
responsible way, then there should be dire consequences.
Television viewers around the world next summer could possibly see on
their screens the scene of a North Korean woman with her baby seeking
safe haven in an athletes' dormitory at the Olympic village as Chinese
police ruthlessly pursue her.
This resolution, therefore, Mr. Speaker, is of vital importance for
the reaffirmation of our commitment to the protection of refugees and,
most importantly, for the North Korean refugees themselves.
I rise in strong support of Mr. Royce's resolution, and I urge my
colleagues to do the same.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
author and the sponsor of this resolution, Mr. Royce of California.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlelady for yielding,
and I want to take a moment and thank Chairman John Tanner, as well as
of course Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Chairman Lantos for
their support in bringing this bill to the floor of the House of
Representatives.
I would also like to thank Congresswoman Diane Watson. She is the
coauthor of this resolution, and in August Congresswoman Watson and
myself traveled to South Korea as Chair and vice-Chair of the U.S.-
Republic of Korea Interparliamentary Exchange. We also had an
opportunity to go to North Korea at that time. In Seoul, South Korea,
we held a day-long discussion with our counterparts in the National
Assembly there in South Korea and took part in a forum of
parliamentarians from across the globe. We had parliamentarians there
from seven different countries to discuss the plight of North Korean
refugees, and this resolution is a product of those discussions and
what we learned from the defectors that we talked to, and we listened
to the defectors during these hearings.
Mr. Speaker, we're all too familiar with the miserable human rights
conditions in North Korea, and I would just remind the Members of this
body of reports by the State Department and NGOs that paint a very grim
picture.
There is a total denial of political, civil, and religious liberties.
There is no dissent or criticism allowed of Kim Jong-Il. The media is
tightly controlled there by the regime.
Severe, severe physical abuse is inflicted on any citizen who
violates these laws and restrictions. NGOs describe a system of
concentration camps. They say this is akin to the Soviet gulags, and
they house somewhere up to 200,000 inmates.
Food shortages are a regular problem because the regime distributes
food based on perceived loyalty and, of course, favors the ruling elite
and the military.
This dismal state has led a large number of North Koreans, perhaps as
many as 300,000, to cross into China. There they seek food, and they're
looking for work, and hopefully from their standpoint, they're looking
for resettlement in South Korea. It is thought that nearly 75 percent
of these refugees are women, and according to the NGOs that study this
problem, 90 percent of those women end up trafficked.
In northeast China, North Korean refugees live in constant fear of
being rounded up by Chinese authorities, and this despite the
international obligations that China is supposed to keep.
China forcibly repatriates these refugees; and for many of them, it's
effectively a death sentence. Some are shot on the spot. Some go to
these concentration camps or work camps. Many of them live out their
lives in these concentration camps.
{time} 1445
The Government of North Korea deems leaving their country a crime, in
some cases a capital offense. If not that, the expense is the gulag.
China's mistreatment of these refugees is not new but has really
intensified, according to the State Department, in the last couple of
years. During 2006, several thousand North Koreans were forcibly
detained and forcibly returned to North Korea, the State Department
reports.
As part of its stepped-up campaign of repatriation, Chinese
authorities reportedly also have established new detention centers
along the border with North Korea to accommodate greater numbers of
North Korean prisoners prior to the repatriation. The Congressional-
Executive Commission on China, on which I serve, recently released its
annual report finding that during the past 1 or 2 years the Chinese
Government has intensified its efforts to forcibly repatriate North
Korean refugees, in part as security preparation for the 2008 Olympic
Games.
These refugees deserve better. Certainly, Kim Chun-hee did. Ms. Kim
is a North Korean woman in her 30s who sought refuge at a school in
Beijing in December of 2005, only to be repatriated, this despite
attempts by the United States and others to raise her case to the
Chinese Government to convince the Chinese Government not to do this.
To this day it is not known whether she was executed or whether she is
still alive.
There are thousands of similar stories. Those associated with
humanitarian groups who assist North Korean refugees in northeast China
are also targeted by Chinese officials, and this includes U.S.
citizens. Last month, American businessman Steve Kim was released from
a Chinese prison after serving 4 years. His supposed crime was helping
North Korean refugees who had escaped their homeland and were hiding in
China hoping to make their way to South Korea.
Mr. Kim, who recently spoke on Capitol Hill about his experiences,
recounted, ``When I was in prison, I saw North Korean defectors who I
shared the prison cell with beaten to a pulp by prison guards.'' Now,
this is in China. This is before they are sent back to North Korea. We
have documented the kind of treatment they get when they are sent back.
This resolution sends a strong message to Beijing. This practice must
stop. Specifically, the resolution calls on China to honor its
obligations under the 1951 U.N. convention relating to the status of
refugees and its 1967 protocol, and to honor that by halting the forced
repatriation of these refugees, terminating the practice of
automatically classifying all North Korean border crossers as illegal
economic migrants and granting the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
unfettered access to get into these areas to see these refugees.
China is signed up to respect refugees. It is past time for them to
live up to the protocols they have signed to do this. The human rights
situation in North Korea is a nightmare. These human rights abuses are
worthy of this House's attention, because North Koreans are suffering.
Two million were killed at the hands of this regime over this last
decade. They also tell us something about the regime we are expecting
to carry out commitments under the Six-Party Talks on North Korea's
nuclear weapons program. It tells you something about this regime.
I will quote Andrei Sakharov, the Soviet dissident who once said, ``A
country that does not respect the rights of its own people will not
respect the rights of its neighbors.'' Teeing off that quote, Jay
Lefkowitz, the State Department's Special Envoy for Human Rights in
North Korea, wrote in The Wall Street Journal last year, ``North Korea
is a prime example of a regime that doesn't respect either. It wouldn't
have surprised Sakharov that a government that inflicts on its citizens
repression reminiscent of the most cruel totalitarian rulers of the
20th century is today counterfeiting U.S. currency, trafficking in
narcotics, building a nuclear arsenal, and threatening other nations.''
In testimony last week before the House Foreign Affairs Committee,
Assistant Secretary Christopher Hill reported that he is moving the
ball forward with North Korea in respect to disabling their nuclear
program. I hope he is right. Part of the February agreement to do so
involves a U.S. commitment to move toward full diplomatic relations
with North Korea.
The administration insists that it still has a clear eye on the North
Korea human rights situation. However, the Congressional Research
Service reports that Ambassador Hill increasingly has linked
normalization of U.S.-North Korean relations solely to a satisfactory
settlement of the nuclear issue. This body must let it be known that
relations with North Korea will be far from normal as long as North
Korea continues to treat its people as we have heard about today.
[[Page H12112]]
I urge the passage of this important resolution.
Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to Mr.
Moran of Virginia.
Mr. MORAN of Virginia. I thank Mr. Royce for bringing up this issue.
Mr. Speaker, it's terribly important, it's all about man's inhumanity
to mankind. Here China envisions itself becoming a superpower in the
21st century, hosting the world's Olympics.
We, in the United States, are buying tens of billions of dollars of
goods from China. China has the opportunity to take its place among the
nations of the world that matter, that do the right thing, that lead us
into the future. What a terrific opportunity for China to show that it
has a moral fiber, that it knows right from wrong, that it is not an
amoral totalitarian state.
It knows, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the horrific conditions
within which the North Korean people exist today, barely surviving.
Yet, out of total desperation, when they are able to escape North
Korea, do the Chinese help? No. They make it worse. It's as though they
have escaped from some purgatory into hell where they get beaten up by
the Chinese and then sent back to North Korea, probably to be executed.
This is a situation that just cries out for people around the world
to speak up. I appreciate the fact that Mr. Royce has given us that
opportunity in the House of Representatives today.
Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res.
234, which calls upon the People's Republic of China to abide by its
obligations with respect to North Korean refugees.
Mr. Speaker, the people of North Korea suffer under one of the most
oppressive regimes on Earth. North Koreans enjoy few freedoms. Indeed,
most aspects of daily life are dictated by government mandate. This
bleak existence is punctuated by constant fear of the merciless tactics
employed by the government to command subservience. To add insult to
injury, North Korea suffers chronic food shortages. The food that is
available is rationed out based on presumed loyalty to the state, not
need.
Not surprisingly, thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, have
attempted to flee North Korea into China. I would assume almost all
North Koreans would leave if given the option. The government of Kim
Jong-Il must assume this as well, because it does everything in its
power to dissuade North Koreans from doing so. Leaving North Korea is a
crime. Those caught attempting to escape are beaten, imprisoned in
concentration camps, or executed.
Instead of recognizing North Koreans as political refugees, China
labels them economic migrants. Instead of providing sanctuary, it hunts
them down and, like the North Korean government, beats and imprisons
them. Finally, they are forcibly repatriated to North Korea, even
though this is often tantamount to a death sentence.
The People's Republic of China is party to the United Nations
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol to
that Convention. These are the international instruments that detail
the protections for refugees. Despite this, China has not allowed
United Nations agencies access to the North Koreans living in China,
and its aforementioned treatment of North Korean refugees violates
these international agreements.
I thank my colleague Representative Ed Royce for introducing this
legislation, and I join his call for China to live up to its
humanitarian responsibilities with respect to North Korean refugees.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hill). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner) that the House
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Con. Res. 234.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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