Ottawa – North Koreans are subject to arbitrary arrests and detention. Their freedom of movement is restrained, their privacy rights are non-existent and they cannot speak their minds. They live in a country isolated from the world.

About 1,000 North Koreans will defect this year — a dramatic drop from years past due to tightened border security. For those who do escape, their nightmare has just begun.

In these grim circumstances, the Senate Committee on Human Rights urges the government to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to allow North Korean defectors to qualify for refugee status in Canada.

In the short term, the committee is also recommending that the Minister of Immigration use his powers under the Act to allow the entry into Canada of the most vulnerable North Korean defectors.

These recommendations are at the core of the committee’s report — The Forgotten Many: Human Rights and North Korean Defectors — that was released today.

The path to the outside world goes through China, the committee heard. Defectors are forced into slavery and fear being deported back. Others make it to neighbouring countries — but defectors are not welcome. In Thailand, for instance, about 200 North Koreans languish in detention at any given time.

Meanwhile, North Koreans are entitled to South Korean citizenship, which bars defectors from seeking asylum in many countries, including Canada. The United States, however, has legislation in place that guarantees asylum for North Koreans.

Senators intend to help the defectors who face death, detention and slavery in their struggle for freedom. The committee has reviewed the North Korean situation and proposes practical solutions that will change defectors’ lives for the better.

The committee will continue to monitor the situation in North Korea.

Quick Facts

• The committee’s hearings began with powerful testimony from Hyeonseo Lee, author of The Girl with Seven Names: a North Korean Defector's Story.
• Global Affairs Canada said Canada provided, through trusted partners, over $28 million in humanitarian assistance to the international response in North Korea.
• Roughly 30,000 North Koreans have settled in South Korea in the past 15 years.
• Women make up 70% to 80% of all defectors.

Quotes

“The wrenching testimony of defector Hyeonseo Lee has touched us all. The ordeals she has suffered — and her spirit in overcoming them — has steeled our resolve to ease the lives of the lucky few to escape North Korea.”

- Senator Jim Munson, Chair of the committee.

 “The government has shown great compassion in its response to the Syrian refugee crisis. But the plight of North Korean defectors is no less grave. We urge the government to extend its compassion to these downtrodden, desperate people.”

- Senator Salma Ataullahjan, Deputy Chair of the committee.

Associated Links

• Read the report: The Forgotten Many: Human Rights and North Korean Defectors
• Click here to watch a North Korean defector testify before the Senate Committee on Human Rights.
• Twitter: @SenateCA - follow the committee using the hashtag #RIDR

For more information, please contact:

Marcy Galipeau
Committees Liaison Officer (Communications)
Senate of Canada
613-944-4082
marcy.galipeau@sen.parl.gc.ca