“She was denied the right to smile or sing in the prison camp.” (U.S. Rep. Ed Royce)
“You can’t be a human being — everything is controlled.” (U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel)
“. . . how could you send our children to their death and to North Korean political prison camps? How could you send our children to a country where there are no human rights?” (MJ – missionary who sheltered the children)
A December 10 press conference, called by the North Korea Freedom Coalition (NKFC), highlighted the terrible plight of nine North Korean orphan escapees who were forcibly repatriated to North Korea by the Chinese and Laotian governments. The story of the “Laos Nine” gives a face — actually nine sweet young faces — to the egregious human rights violations of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The seven boys and two girls — known as the “kkotjebbi” (homeless North Korean children in China) were secretly sheltered by missionary “MJ” and his wife in China until they decided to take them to South Korea, via Laos. At the Chinese-Laotian border the children were separated from the couple, detained, and soon were sent back to North Korea.
On what was appropriately enough Human Rights Day, the NKFC leaders, Suzanne Scholte, Chairman, and Rabbi Abraham Cooper,Vice-Chairman, along with U.S. Representatives Ed Royce (R-CA) and Eliot Engel (D-NY), longtime advocates for North Korean human rights, called for action to help all of the people languishing under the regime of Kim Jong Un. They also called for a thorough investigation of what has happened to the nine teenagers, and if they are still alive since being repatriated.
Royce, the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, opened the press conference. He and all of the other speakers referred to the excellent and thorough report issued by the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) on human rights in North Korea earlier this year. Royce echoed the COI’s recommendations that UN General Assembly consider a resolution to condemn North Korea for human rights abuses and crimes against humanity, and to refer the case to the International Criminal Court. The Chairman also stressed the need for the Senate to take up a resolution (H.R. 1771) that was passed unanimously by the House of Representatives, calling for strong sanctions against North Korea.
Engel, the Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has worked in partnership with Royce for a number of years on a variety of human rights issues. He repeated his House colleague’s call for action in both the United Nations and the U.S. Congress. Engel also noted that the decision of the Laotian government to send the nine orphans back to China and then back to North Korea violates international law.
Following the remarks by the members of Congress, NKFC advocates displayed photos of the nine children and told a little bit of their story. Rabbi Cooper declared that it was important for the children and other North Koreans longing for freedom to know that they “are not forgotten.” He thanked Royce and Engel for their exemplary bi-partisanship on human rights issues, and condemned the Laotian government for robbing the nine young people “of a future and a hope.
NKFC Chair,Dr. Suzanne Scholte, spoke of letters that the NKFC leaders had sent to the United Nations and to the presidents of Laos and China, via the U.S. Embassies. She stressed that American citizens may also help with a very important action that they can take — RIGHT NOW.
We can call on the Senate to take up the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2014 (H.R. 1771) and move quickly to pass it in the Senate in the same strong fashion (unanimously would be nice!) in which it passed in the House. In particular, Americans who care about this issue should contact Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Bob Corker (R-TN), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This is most helpful if you happen to be from New Jersey or Tennessee, but no matter what state you are from, you can still pressure these senators, and the whole Senate Foreign Relations Committee to show that they care about stopping human rights atrocities in North Korea.
If you are interested in trying to help the North Korean orphans and all of the people of North Korea, examine the letter that was sent to Senators Menendez and Corker from the NKFC. The letter reminds the senators that:
the House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously approved this bi-partisan bill, which now has 141 co-sponsors. We expect it to be passed by the full House in July, but without your prompt support, this bill will not pass in this Congress, and the regime in Pyongyang will continue to oppress 23 million North Koreans with impunity—perhaps for another year, and perhaps indefinitely.
You can adapt the letter in your own words and send your own message to Senators Menendez and Corker. You can be an advocate for the Laos Nine and other North Koreans who long for the right to live their lives in freedom.
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