AP News, November 13th, 2007
Millions of dollars earmarked by the U.S. government to help North Koreans fleeing their impoverished homeland are still tied up by red tape three years after the money was authorized, a U.S. official said Monday.
The North Korean Human Rights Act passed in 2004 set aside $24 million to improve human rights in North Korea and help refugees. But none of that money has yet been approved for release by Congress, Christian Whiton, deputy to the U.S. special envoy on human rights in North Korea, said during an appearance at the University of Hong Kong.
Whiton said Washington has spent about $4 million ramping up its radio broadcasts into North Korea during the past year, as well as sending funds into the country via the United Nations and other aid agencies.
"It's not that funds have not been expended on the North Korean refugee issue, but it's not quite the $24 million," Whiton said.
The act, pushed by President Bush, mandates that North Korean refugees be offered asylum and other assistance.
Whiton said about 35 North Korean refugees have been resettled in the United States since 2006 and that Washington was actively working with European and some Asian countries to help more reach safety.
He said another $4 million was expected to be funneled to broadcasters — such as Radio Free Asia and Voice of America — to help effect change in North Korea, but warned that change would not happen overnight.
Hundreds of North Koreans flee starvation, economic and political repression every year, hoping to find refuge in a third country. Many escape into China and take a long and risky land journey through the jungles of neighboring Laos and into Thailand, while others try to cross the Gobi desert into Mongolia. More than 10,000 North Korean refugees are living in South Korea.
