On June 7th 2013, Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights received a request to help four North Korean refugees in China. 

The two female refugees, both of them young women, are originally from Hamgyeong Province. Upon hearing that they could earn better money in China, they fled from their increasingly difficult lives in the North, but were sold to Chinese men.

We helped the father and his 14-year-old daughter after his college-aged son, already living in South Korea, came to us with an urgent request.  After resettling, the son had remained in contact with his family in the North and had recently realized that his father and sister were sick, suffering from malnutrition and other precarious situations.

₩ 3,600,000 of the funds raised from our NKHR Refugee Rescue Fundraising Campaign Team went to help the father and his 14-year old daughter.

We are happy to announce that two female refugees, a father and his teenage daughter arrived safely in a Southeast Asian country this past week.

In a desperate attempt to maintain the regime, North Korea bars its citizens from leaving the country, but the march towards freedom continues. It is an irreversible trend. In a month or two, the four North Korean refugees will arrive in South Korea. We hope they achieve the happy lives they dream of. 


Sincerely,
Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights
Seoul, South Korea

NKHR, with the Hallyuwood Film Club, are hosting another movie screening of the 2012 North Korean Human Rights International Film Festival movie called the "Traveler from the North (여행자)" (w/English subs), a documentary called "North Korea Through the Eyes of Witnesses" and a Q&A session with a North Korean defector (in English & Korean) after the movie!

We will show a documentary called "North Korea Through the Eyes of Witnesses." The documentary presents women, children and political prison camp issues in North Korea. Seven victims describe their experiences of horror. The video is intertwined with secret footages shot in North Korea. The documentary was produced in 2011 by the Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights.

"Traveler from the North (여행자)", directed by Lee Won Sik, is about a North Korean single mother defector and how she deals with the hardships she faces as she settles down in South Korea., follows the emotionally overwhelming journey of a North Korean man who illegally leaves the country in a desperate attempt, despite the risks, to find a medicine for his sick wife. The movie portrays the incredible hardships of an average North Korean citizens and the gravity of the risks many defectors are at the risk of and must confront. This film received financial support from the film festival (2012 North Korean Human Rights International Film Festival).

View trailer for Traveler from the North


We will also have a Q&A with a North Korean defector following the movie. At this event, we will have Chung Kwang Sung (정광성), who will share his experience and answer questions to better depict the reality of the escape from North Korea.

This event is a part of the 'North Korean Human Rights Refugee Rescue Fund'  and all fees and donations will be used to support and save vulnerable North Korean refugees who are hiding in countries like China, still waiting to be rescued from the risk of repatriation and prison camps.

To learn more about the fundraiser campaign and help spread awareness about NK human rights, please visit our website: 

http://www.nkhrrescuefund.org/ 

Like and share our facebook or tumblr page:

http://www.facebook.com/NKHRRescueFund

http://nkhrrescuefund.tumblr.com/ 



Location: Sports Complex Station (Line 2 Exit 3)
Kim Maria Building, 1st Floor, Annie Ellers Hall, Chungshin Girls School, Jamsil, Seoul
Map: http://goo.gl/lONmv

Date:  Saturday, June 15, 2013
start 13:00 // end: 15:00

Entrance: 0! (Donations appreciated!)

We will be accepting donations during the event and people who donate 20,000 or more will receive a complementary 'Thank you!' gift from NKHR for showing your support for human rights in North Korea and standing in solidarity with the refugees who have escaped, but are still living in fear of repatriation.

Our gift is a beautiful tumbler decorated by award winning children's artwork depicting the human rights abuses that children must endure in North Korea. The art illustrates the horror of North Korean prison camps, but also reveals hope for a better tomorrow.



Thank you, and we hope you will all attend our second movie screening!
If you have any questions, please contact us via email: nkhrrescuefund@gmail.com

Nine orphaned North Korean defectors (ages 14 to 23) risked their lives to fight for their human rights. Their willpower and hope overpowered their fear. From North Korea to China, and China to Laos, they pushed on toward freedom – they were almost there.

However, all hope vanished on Friday, May 10, 2013.

The nine North Korean youth defectors, with the help of two South Koreans, were en route to South Korea when authorities in Muang Xay, Laos, captured them and sent them to the Immigration Detention Center in Bientiane, Laos. One of the South Korean leaders pleaded the South Korean embassy to provide the nine North Korean refugees with necessary protection, but the South Korean embassy did not take any emergency actions to help them. Instead, the South Korean embassy told the refugees to “wait.” For seventeen days, neither the South Korean embassy nor its embassy in Laos visited or interviewed the young defectors while a North Korean diplomat, claiming to be a South Korean diplomat, visited the refugees, twice.

On May 27th, 2013, the North Korean diplomat succeeded in taking the nine North Korean youth defectors back to China.

The refugees were on the brink of being repatriated back to North Korea, where they will be punished - tortured and abused at political prison camps, and possibly face the risk of execution.

On Wednesday, May 29th, 2013, NKHR members along with other supporters, gathered in front of the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs to appeal to the South Korean government to take action and stop the enforced repatriation of these young defectors. NKHR members and other supporters let their voices be heard on the streets of Seoul; “The South Korean government must take responsibility for its negligence and failure to protect the young North Korean refugees in Laos.”

Ultimately, the nine North Korean youth defectors were deported back to North Korea. Even though the Laotian government knew the fatal fate of these refugees, it sent them back to North Korea. The Laotian government did not stand by its duty as a signatory of the UN Convention on the Rights of Children. The Laotian government’s actions were basically a violation of human rights.

On Friday, May 31st, 2013, NKHR held another street protest/press conference at the Embassy of Laos in South Korea to demonstrate against the Laotian government’s inhuman practice and to urge the Laotian government never to send refugees back to North Korea again.

We need to keep in mind that Laos is one of the main routes for North Korean refugees to come to South Korea.

The fight isn't over yet.

We are talking about nine young lives – help us save these lives. Continue to support and pray for the nine young North Korean defectors; continue to support other future refugees; and continue to voice your opinion on the issue of human rights in North Korea.