Posted on 03/13/2002 11:14:53 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
BEIJING - Twenty North Koreans who said they were fleeing persecution in their hard-line communist country rushed past Chinese guards and sought asylum Thursday at the Spanish Embassy, threatening suicide if they are sent back.
The men, women and youngsters ran through the embassy's front gate, past two armed Chinese guards. One struggled briefly with a guard who grabbed him, but broke free and ran with the others into the main embassy building.
"We are now at the point of such desperation and live in such fear of persecution within North Korea that we have come to the decision to risk our lives for freedom rather than passively await our doom," the group said in a statement distributed to reporters.
Within minutes, dozens of armed green-uniformed Chinese guards converged on the compound. Spanish diplomats came out of the embassy building, talked to some of the guards, and then followed the asylum-seekers into the building. Chinese guards formed a cordon outside the compound, shooing away bystanders with shouts of "sorry, sorry" in Chinese and English.
A man who picked up the telephone at the embassy said no one was available for comment. China's Foreign Ministry also said it had no immediate comment.
The incident presented a dilemma for the Chinese government. China is a close ally of North Korea but has been criticized by human rights and aid groups for refusing to grant refugee status to North Koreans fleeing famine and repression.
China is bound by treaty with North Korea to repatriate fleeing North Koreans. Many have been sent back, but others have been able to live in hiding along China's northeastern border with North Korea.
The group included six families and three individuals, according to a statement distributed by supporters who helped the North Koreans in their asylum bid. It said they totaled 25 people, but reporters saw only about 20.
The statement included a list of names, ages and hometowns, but said many names were pseudonyms to avoid "dangerous repercussions to our loved ones who remain in North Korea."
"Some of us carry poison on our person to commit suicide if the Chinese authorities should choose once again to send us back to North Korea," said the printed-out statement, written in English.
There was no indication why the refugees chose the Spanish Embassy. But the compound's front gate is usually left open, in contrast to more heavily guarded embassies.
There were also individual statements in English from other members of the group, including a farmer, a former policeman, two orphaned 16-year-old girls and a miner.
One man, who said he was giving his correct full name, Choi Byong-sop, wrote that he was 52 and a former coal miner and one-time member of the North Korean Workers Party, the ruling party.
He said he fled to China in 1997 with his wife and three children but was caught and returned to North Korea, where guards beat and tortured him.
As a former party member, he wrote, "I would be very strictly persecuted and most likely executed if I am caught again. However, I am willing to risk my life for freedom in South Korea."
He added: "We want to live a decent life in freedom in South Korea. My first son wants to become a Christian missionary. My daughter wants to be trained to be a pianist. My last son wants to be a soccer player in South Korea."
The group statement said that for many, this was at least the second attempt to use China to gain freedom. It said some had previously been caught by Chinese security officials and returned to North Korea, where "we endured months of detention ... that can only be described as atrocious."
Last June, a family of seven North Korean asylum-seekers sought refuge in a U.N. office in Beijing. After four days, they were allowed to leave for South Korea via a circuitous route that took them to Singapore, then to Seoul via the Philippines.
Beijing was in the final weeks of a hard-fought bid for the 2008 Olympics and couldn't afford to raise international ire by sending the family back to near-certain punishment in North Korea.
Bump!
Triumph is written on the faces of these North Korean asylum seekers, who made a mad dash past Chinese military guards at the Spanish Embassy in Beijing on Thursday. At least 20 of them made it into the embassy grounds, which is outside the jurisdiction of the Chinese police. The group, which included women and children, threatened suicide if forced to return to North Korea. -- AP
Now they can only hope Spain doesn't pull a "Mexico" on them and turn them over to the communist bastards.
Now they can only hope Spain doesn't pull a "Mexico" on them and turn them over to the communist bastards.
Bump!!
Some 200 Cubans Seek Asylum in Spain --[Full Text] MADRID, Spain - A group of Cubans seeking political asylum in Spain have been put up at Madrid's international airport while authorities decide their cases, officials said Tuesday.
Two hundred Cubans, reportedly the most to seek asylum in recent years, arrived on separate flights over the weekend, Cadena SER radio said. It said 123 men, women and their children sought asylum on a stopover from Havana to Moscow. There was no immediate information on who the Cubans were.
An Interior Ministry spokeswoman confirmed there was a large group was seeking asylum at the airport but would give no other details. She said asylum cases are confidential.
Unidentified police officials told the leading daily El Pais that the Cubans would probably be allowed enter Spain on humanitarian grounds.
The daily El Mundo quoted one of the Cubans as saying they had come for economic reasons. The paper said that unlike asylum seekers from other countries, those from Cuba are normally allowed to enter Spain on humanitarian grounds even if their political asylum applications are rejected.
Spain, with a population of 41 million, has an estimated 1 million legal immigrants and several hundred thousand illegal immigrants. It receives nearly a quarter of all new immigrants to the European Union. [End]
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Saturday, March 16, 2002 |
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25 Nokor defectors to arrive in Manila Friday |
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By Johnna Villaviray, Reporter and Carmelita Fernandez-Duñgo, Correspondent TWENTY-FIVE North Koreans seeking to defect to South Korea will arrive in Manila Friday night at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, said Foreign Undersecretary Franklin Ebdalin. Ebdalin said Manila agreed to allow North Korean defectors to make a stopover here on “humanitarian grounds.” Ebdalin admitted that hosting the North Korean defectors here in Manila could antagonize Pyongyang, which was why Manila resisted efforts from South Korean diplomats to let the group stay in Manila till Monday. Airport Immigration Chief Simeon Vallada said it was normal for asylum seekers to pass through a third country going to their final destination. This would be the largest known mass defection from North Korea since the Korean War. The 25 North Korean defectors had earlier sought refuge in the Spanish Embassy in Beijing. Beijing’s close relations with Pyongyang makes it necessary for the North Korean defectors to fly to third country first before flying to South Korea. There are no direct flights between North and South Korea. |
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Screw both the Chi-Coms & the Nor-Coms. |
Bump!
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