Tag Archives: human rights
Seminar on Refugees & Human Rights to Be Held in Tokyo
Agenda for Tokyo Seminar
| 13:00 | Registration “North Korean Children Beyond the Border” a documentary film (20minutes) to be played continuously as people enter… |
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| 13:30 | Welcoming Remarks Hiroshi Kato, Secretariat Director of Life Funds for North Korean Refugees (LFNKR) |
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| 14:00 | State of Human Rights in Asia Kanae Doi Tokyo Director of Human Rights Watch |
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| 14:20 | Human Trafficking Forum Stories from the victims Opening remarks – Introduction Testimony from victims Participants Q & A |
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| 15:20 | Presentation Trafficked North Korean women and their Children in China Kate Nielsen Director of International Relations, LFNKR |
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| 15:40 | Presentation The invisible trafficking to China from Kachin State in Myanmar Shirley Seng Director of Kachin Women’s Association in Thailand |
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| 16:00 | Presentation Trafficking of North Koreans in China Lin Fei Representative of Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition Japan |
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| 16:20 | Presentation Reception condition of women and children asylum seekers in Japan Eri Ishikawa Secretary general of Japan Association for Refugees |
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| 16:40 | Presentation Resettlement of North Korean Women and children in Japan Kotaro Miura Representative of Society to Help Returnees to North Korea |
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| 17:00 | Panel Discussion Refugees and Human Rights in Asia |
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| 17:40 | Closing Remarks |
U.S. Senator Nixes Ambassador Nominee over NK Human Rights
US State Dept. too Soft on Kim Jong Il?
United States Senator Sam Brownback (R. Kansas), a long-time champion of North Korean refugees and their human rights, gave an impassioned speech from the Senate floor outlining his reasons for putting a hold on the nomination of Kathleen Stephens as ambassador to South Korea.
Join the North Korean Freedom Week Events
Update from Suzanne Scholte
of North Korea Freedom Coalition
I am pleased to send another update on the events confirmed for North Korea Freedom Week April 26-May 3, 2008.
Please note that since my last update we have added several additional events: another panel session, a special demonstration by Youth for Truth and as a testament to the importance of North Korea Freedom Week, the producer of the soon-to-be-released movie Crossing, Patrick Cheh, is coming to show a special screening of this movie that is scheduled for threatrical release in South Korea in June.
LFNKR’s Kato Speaks on Human Trafficing of NK Women
Speech by Kato Hiroshi, Executive Director
Life Funds for North Korean Refugees
Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor for me to be here today and I would like to thank The Committee for the Bangkok International Conference for North Korean Human Rights for giving me the opportunity to say a few words on behalf of Life Funds for North Korean Refugees.
North Korea Freedom Week Slated for US Capital this April
From Suzanne Scholte, North Korean Freedom Coalition
Below is a list of the public events being held the week of April 22-29 to promote the freedom, human rights and dignity of the North Korean people. At the bottom of this page you will also find an invitation to Defense Forum Foundation’s Forum on Capitol Hill with North Korean Defectors on Friday, April 27. North Korea Freedom Week is just a few days away! Please help us promote attendance at these events by spreading the word.
International Protest Day – Sample Letter
Citizens Worldwide Mail Protests
This coming winter, the number of starving North Korean refugees escaping into China is expected to increase, particularly in light of the major flooding in North Korea.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government continues to hunt down and repatriate North Korean refugees, while also arresting humanitarian aid workers. We must persist in our protests against Chinese government actions in order to save the starving North Korean refugees.
December 2 has been set as a day for simultaneous worldwide protest. Here in Japan, LFNKR and other groups involved in the rescue of North Korean refugees will stage a protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in this country.
You can join us by sending protest email to the Chinese embassy in your country.
Here is a list of embassy addresses.
And below is a sample letter you can use as a guideline when writing your own letter.
Sample Letter:
Dear President Hu Jintao,
Please immediately stop arresting and repatriating North Korean refugees.
On Dec. 2, many citizens’ groups in Europe, the USA, South Korea, and Japan are simultaneously doing joint protests in front of Chinese embassies in their countries. The purpose that we share, which surpasses race, religion, and ideology, is to help the lives and human rights of the people seeking to escape from starvation and oppression in North Korea.
It is widely known that yearly tens of thousands of North Korean defectors have escaped into China for more than a decade. The Chinese government, however, has ignored the voices of the international community urging your government to immediately stop repatriating North Korean refugees and to cease arresting the aid workers who try to help them.
It is also widely known that a staggering number of North Korean women are victims of human trafficking in China and that even when they marry Chinese men and bear children, most of them are still arrested and sent back to North Korea. The children born of these marriages often remain without nationality and are therefore denied an education. Your government continues mercilessly depriving those innocent children of their mothers and of their basic human rights.
These are not only inhumane acts, they violate the Refugees Convention to which your country is signatory. This fact seriously dishonors China in the international community.
I urge the Chinese government to:
- immediately stop arresting, detaining or repatriating North Korean refugees and duly to protect them in your country under the supervision of UNHCR or other related international organization, and to assure them safe passage to third countries if they wish to leave.
- immediately free the currently detained North Korean refugees and humanitarian aid workers, and
- grant Chinese nationality to North Korean defectors who marry Chinese citizens as well as to their children, and allow them to settle in China.
(Your name)
LFNKR Action Plan for FY 2006-2007
Overview
Last year, a single charter flight from Vietnam carried 460 North Koreans into South Korea. This case had a strong impact on the international community and spotlighted North Korea’s human rights problems. It remains to be seen, however, what lessons it has taught the South Korean government, which fears a similar incident occurring in Thailand.