26 April, 2007
Dear General Surayud Chulanont:
We, at Life Funds for North Korean Refugees (LFNKR),
wish to convey our profoundest gratitude and respect
to the people and Government of Thailand for humanitarian
assistance extended to the North Korean defectors in
Thailand in past years.
Today, we are seriously concerned with
the latest reports that some 400 North Korean refugees
detained in the immigration detention centre in Swantru
Street, Sathon, Bangkok, are on a five-day hunger strike
to protest the undue delay in the process of their deportation
to South Korea as well as the poor sanitation and detention
facilities.
A number of international NGOs have
been alarmed over the past few months at the crowding
of over 300 female refugees including babies, children
and old women into a space sufficient for only 100 inmates.
As a result of this overcrowding, the inmates find they
have to struggle just to gain access to toilets. There
are only four toilets, and one or two of those are out
of order most of the time; on the day they began the
hunger strike, there was only one toilet available all
the refugees.
The inmates also suffered from the
stench of garbage that had not been removed for days
before it was finally removed in the afternoon of Wednesday,
April 25, 2007. The amount of garbage was such that the
male inmates had to spend two hours removing it, during
which time the stench filled the inmates’ entire
living space. Some inmates were vomiting for hours; many
inmates also suffer from eye, skin and other ailments.
Furthermore, the North Korean defectors are
detained there only to be deported to South Korea. We
find it difficult to understand why the process for their
deportation should take two to three months or longer.
In view of Thailand’s long and
internationally respected history of humanitarianism,
we believe that this is not the policy of the Government
of Thailand. Rather, it is simply a case of inattention
and negligence of duty by a small number of Thai immigration
officials. The incompetence of the South Korean diplomats
in Thailand, and their failure to bring the situation
to the proper attention of the Government of Thailand,
is also to blame. In addition, it has been indicated
to us that the language barrier between Thai and Korean
has been seriously handicapping the communication between
the immigration authorities and the North Koreans.
We most respectfully wish to appeal to
the people and Government of Thailand to expedite the
deportation process and transfer custody of North Korean
refugees to the South Korean Embassy, as had been done
for many years until a few months ago. We ask this in
light of Article 31 of the 1951 Geneva Convention prohibiting
punishment of refugees on account of their illegal entry
into or presence in the country, and by virtue of the
status of Thailand as a member state of the Executive
Committee of the UNHCR.
Life Funds for North Korean Refugees (LFNKR)
would be delighted to be allowed to offer our services
to facilitate communication between the two languages
as necessary. Please find attached, for your reference,
the statement in English and Thai by the International
Fact-Finding Mission on the Situation of North Korean
Refugees in Thailand that visited Thailand during the
period 25th February – 1st March 2007.
Respectfully yours,
Kato Hiroshi
Secretary-General
Life Funds for North Korean Refugees (NPO)
A-101, 2-2-8 Nishikata, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0024
Tel/Fax: 03-3815-8127
http://www.northkoreanrefugees.com
