Hunger strike in Thailand

From Yonhap News-

SEOUL, April 25 (Yonhap) -- Hundreds of North Korean defectors detained in a Thai immigration detention center have gone on a hunger strike to protest an alleged delay or decline by South Korea in the process of accepting them, activists said Wednesday.

"The South Korean government refused to issue air tickets for unknown reasons, so 100 male and 300 female North Korean defectors started a hunger strike Tuesday evening," said Lee Ho-taek, secretary general of a civic group helping defectors from the North.

Increasing numbers of North Koreans are fleeing from their impoverished country and crossing into Thailand via China, mostly on their way to South Korea.

Thai police arrested hundreds of North Korean refugees in Bangkok last year, and many of the defectors were believed to have received help from human rights organizations based mostly in South Korea.

Activists claim that 622 North Korean defectors were arrested since 2003 at the checkpoint of Mae Sai in northern Thailand. Of those, 367 entered the country illegally last year.

"About 300 female inmates are held in Thai immigration facilities that are sufficient for 100 females. The living conditions of the detention center are terrible," Lee said.

It is disgraceful that the government in Seoul can't find room for these defectors. For if they return to Pyongyang, its either death or a concentration camp. Kim Jong-Il will protest, but he's a psycho anyway. Would he go to war over 400 refugees? I think not. ROK Drop says the moral bankruptcy of the Korean government continues. I agree.

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