This year’s rescue operations
At the annual meeting of LFNKR held on October 14, details of this organization’s rescue operations were reported as follows.
During the past year, LFNKR received requests for rescue from a total of 27 North Korean refugees, 12 being mothers accompanied by children, and 15 being unaccompanied women. LFNKR-led operations resulted in the rescue of 8 adults (5 mothers with their children and 3 unaccompanied women). The rescue operations cost more than USD $20,000. LFNKR is extremely grateful for the donations we received to help these refugees.
Our organization was not involved with the rescue of the remaining 19 people due to limited funds. Those people were,however, rescued by other South Korean NGOs with whom LFNKR has worked over the past several years.
Tragically, two of the North Korean women died while crossing the Mekong River when their boat capsized and they drowned. .
According to statistics for the first half of 2018 released by the Ministry of Unification, South Korea, 88% of the North Korean defectors entering South Korea are women.
And all of the North Korean defectors who requested help from LFNKR were women. Most of them had escaped from North Korea into China because of their struggle to stay alive, and were lured into captivity and held by human traffickers. Some of them were sold to Chinese men in rural areas, while others were sold as “workers in the sex industries.” All had experienced abuse-filled lives in China for years. They reported being constantly watched and often battered.
North Korean refugees whom LFNKR rescued this past fiscal year have ranged from a 10-month-old baby to a 50-year-old woman. More than half, 55%, were under 30 years old. They came from North Hamgyong Province and Ryanggang Province, and they all expressed the desire to resettle in South Korea.
A request for rescue can come in at any time, with no prior notice, meaning that we must always have sufficient funds at the ready. This enables us to take immediate action in starting rescue operations on short notice. If a refugee is under strict surveillance by her Chinese husband’s family, moving quickly is the key to success. If she can manage to escape from such surveillance by herself, then the minimum expense is only about USD $2,500. If, however, we need to first help her evade the surveillance, then that costs more – (another USD $1,000 or so), and total rescue expenses can occasionally run as high as USD $6,000.
In the past, a few LFNKR members have personally gone into China and guided North Korean defectors into Thailand. However,after one of the LFNKR members was arrested during a rescue operation and detained for 8 months in China, we ceased sending our members for that part of the operations.
In order to take immediate action upon receipt of a rescue request, LFNKR needs to always have on hand at least USD $6,000 to $10,000 set aside exclusively for rescue operations. Thus, we invite all friends of LFNKR as well as all our readers to consider donating for the rescue of North Korean refugees who need help reaching a safe country where they can live free.
As part of our information gathering activities, back in January this year, LFNKR sent a survey group led by executive director Mr. Hiroshi Kato to the Thai-Lao border along the Mekong River. There,they gathered accurate, up-to-date information about the escape routes of North Korean refugees and on conditions in the North Thailand area. The group visited two local police stations in the border area to determine the current situation experienced by North Korean defectors. The defectors were being held at the police stations while they applied for sanctuary. Our group was allowed to interview a total of 16 North Korean defectors detained in two cells at the Nakhon Phanom police station. Our LFNKR survey group donated 14 different kinds of first aid and medical goods in addition to clothing. These donations were welcomed by the police and warmly appreciated by the refugees.