Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  First of all, we met the Prime Minister yesterday briefly. But I think it is a significant event, really, because it may be interpreted that Canada officially recognizes the status of North Korean refugees. Fleeing North Korea is an anti-state crime. You are executed. You are imp

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think that when we had boat people in Vietnam there was a program called the “first asylum program”, whereby—in Cambodia or in the Philippines—you have temporary shelters to take care of the refugees. From there, the UNHCR can screen whether they are real refugees or not. If gr

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Mr. Chair, if I may, there is a movement here in Canada to build a monument. The mission of Tribute to Liberty, an organization to which I belong, is to establish a monument, which is to be in Ottawa. One more thing I want to add is most people in despair say there is no way to

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  First of all, in North Korea they publicly profess to have a military-first policy. Everything you have goes to the military first. The international community provides aid--clothes, food, or whatever. We send them those things in the name of humanitarianism, but often aid that i

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  In North Korea everything belongs to the regime. In other words, the people are Kim Jong-il's property. Food, land, everything belongs to Kim's family. So there is no civil society there like we have here. Universities, hospitals, and any institutions belong to the state, and the

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  My name is Kyung B. Lee. As the representative of the Council for Human Rights in North Korea, an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization located in Toronto, I express my sincere thanks to the members of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights for allowing me th

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  She wants a break, because from now on she's going to tell about her life in China as a refugee. So maybe you can ask questions now.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Okay. Thank you.