WASHINGTON - Asian nations are refusing to cooperate with the United States in devising a mechanism for accepting North Korean refugees fleeing food shortages and a repressive regime, US officials said Thursday.
The governments in the region are unwilling to put their diplomatic ties with Pyongyang at risk or are worried that any acceptance would trigger an influx of North Korean refugees on their shores, the State Department officials told a Congressional hearing.
Thousands of North Korean refugees at present head to China, some of whom are forcibly returned to Pyongyang where they are punished or even executed, the officials said.
South Korea has resettled more than 6,000 North Koreans while there are a small number of these refugees in Southeast Asian nations.
"While some countries in Asia have been willing to allow for the discreet transit of North Koreans to Seoul through their territories, none has welcomed North Koreans for permanent resettlement," said Arthur Dewey, the assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration.
Governments hosting North Korean refugees, particularly China and Southeast Asian nations, oppose direct, US-funded humanitarian assistance and US refugee admission programs for the North Koreans on their territories, he said.
"We believe that the primary reason for this reluctance is a fear of creating a magnet effect that would draw other North Koreans to their territories," Dewey said.
Joseph DeTrani, US special envoy to multilateral talks designed to end North Korea's nuclear weapons drive, said "many of the countries in Southeast Asia have diplomatic ties with North Korea and are reluctant to cooperate publicly with the United States."
He said a survey of regional US diplomatic posts in Northeast and Southeast Asia found that "governments would likely be reluctant to permit US refugee admissions processing on their territory at this time."
But some of them are willing to cooperate "informally" with South Korea, the United States and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to protect North Korean refugees on a case-by-case basis, he said.
The United States, which has no diplomatic relations with North Korea and is involved in a prolonged nuclear standoff with Pyongyang, has not accepted any North Korean refugees for resettlement during the past five years.
The United States adopted a law in 2004 designed to promote human rights and give refugee protection for North Koreans but has hardly done anything on the ground to alleviate the plight of the refugees, US lawmakers complained.
"It must be understood that the Congress did not intend the North Korean Human Rights Act as a rhetorical exercise," said Republican Representative James Leach, who chaired the hearing Thursday.
He recounted that in recent weeks, South Korean officials had questioned US seriousness about assisting in the resettlement of North Korean refugees.
"Comparing our past inaction to South Koreas investment in resettling more than 6,000 North Koreans, I can understand their skepticism," Leach said.
Dewey explained that US ability to access North Korea refugees is "extremely limited" and that even if there was accessibility, Washington had to be wary about admitting them due to security problems.
"We must finds ways of determining precisely who they are, so as to address serious security concerns that come into play when admitting nationals from a state that sponsors terrorism," he said.
Dewey cited reports of "criminals and spies" having posed as North Korean refugees seeking to come to the United States.
He also said that in some Asian states, direct US government involvement with North Korean refugees could reveal their locations and increase their vulnerability.
Asylum seekers trying to escape North Korea have been known to take dangerous routes through China and to other countries in the region, DeTrani said.
The United States estimates there are up to 50,000 North Korean refugees in China but some nopn-governmental organizations claim the number could be as high as 300,000.
04/29/2005 01:59 GMT