[USFK Forums] North Korean Asylum Seekers Favor United Kingdom Most [Korea Times]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Wednesday, March 15, 2006

North Korean Asylum Seekers Favor United Kingdom Most

The Korea Times, Tuesday, March 14, 2006
By Seo Dong-shin. Staff Reporter

Britain has emerged as the country that received the highest number of asylum seeking applications from North Koreans in 2004, beating Germany, which has topped the list since 1999.

The Washington-based Radio Free Asia (RFA), quoting data it obtained from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), reported that 27 North Koreans lodged applications for asylum in the United Kingdom in 2004, an increase from 15 in the previous year.

North Korean refugees seeking asylum in Germany dwindled to 24 in 2003 and 25 in 2004, from more than 80 to 90 during the peak period between 2000 and 2002, according to the list of new asylum applications submitted by North Korean refugees in selected industrialized countries between 1995 and 2004. The list is posted on the Web site of RFA.

Switzerland and the Netherlands were also favored, with the number of North Koreans seeking refugee status there marking 10 and eight each in 2004.

The RFA reported last month that a total of 700 asylum seekers with North Korean nationality have filed applications for refugee status in seven West European countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium and Norway.

Investigations revealed that a total of 320 North Koreans were living in five West European countries _ Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom as of 2004, it said.

Other than the West European countries listed above, countries such as Australia, Austria, Canada, France and Hungary have also been receiving applications, according to UNHCR data based on government sources.

Last year alone, France received 16 applications, Austria four, Canada four and Australia two, Jennifer Pagonis, an UNHCR spokesperson, was quoted as saying by RFA.

While UNHCR collects statistics from the governments of some 150 countries at year-end, some of the key countries do not turn in their records. That means there is a possibility of even more North Koreans seeking refugee status, the report said.


saltwall@koreatimes.co.kr

03-14-2006 17:43


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