Grüßgott, ya'll: A guide to life in Germany
North Korean Refugees at KISB: October and November 2004
posted 10/21/04
On October 21, 2004, a group of about 30 refugees from North Korea ran through the gates of our school's compound and rushed into our principal's office begging for help.
The North Korean experiment in socialism has failed like most, meaning that the people are literally starving. Jobs are scarce, and opportunities to overcome the perpetual poverty are nonexistant outside of escape. The problem is, escape from North Korea is considered treason. If refugees are caught, they are sentenced to time in hard labor camps or death. Even if people are able to escape, they don't always find a better life on the other side of the border. Women and girls who escape to China are usually sold as sex slaves, and children aren't able to gain an education, are eventually denied jobs, and continue to live in a cycle of poverty.
The Korean refugee situation in China is especially sensitive. North Korea and China are extremely close allies, and China is bound by treaty to return all refugees back to the North Korean government. However, China is also bound by international law to grant asylum to refugees who will face persecution upon return to their home country. Because of their ties with North Korea, most refugees are quietly sent back to North Korea, so aid groups and the "underground railroad" have come up with inventive tactics to make China act according to their obligations under international law. If refugees can receive widespread media attention, the Chinese government will usually allow them some type of asylum which eventually gains them access to South Korea or another country that will accept them. This group received the media attention it needed.
Within an hour of their arrival, our campus was crawling with media, so this group was probably assisted by an organized aid group, though we have no way of really knowing. Reporters were glued to the windows trying to get a shot of the group or anyone involved with them. Doors were locked. Eventually the gates were locked and everyone was kept outside except teachers and students. We were instructed to say nothing to the reporters outside and were suddenly subject to ID checks by school guards, who in their enthusiasm to do their job, tried to keep me out of the school one day as I was returning from a class in another building.
Neither the South Korean Embassy nor the South Korean Consulate had room in their refugee shelter in Beijing for the refugees, so they stayed at our school. Teachers and other school officials stayed the night making sure they were fed and taken care of. The school was providing them with food, a place to sleep and a place to bathe. Those of us who couldn't speak Korean gathered up warm clothes for them to change into so that they would be able to have clean clothes and toys for the two children that were with the group. After staying at our school for over two weeks, the refugees were finally able to go to the South Korean Consulate's refugee shelter. By sheer coincidence, I happened to be working late the night they were set to leave. When I went downstairs to leave, there was more activity on the first floor than usual. A coworker advised me that I should stay and help to see them off. I felt like I was invading on something beyond me and too sacred for me to comprehend.
I watched those who had already packed as they stood and talked, holding their children at their sides, rocking the children back and forth to some unheard music. They seemed so happy and at ease. Finally, they were told to get in line, and a hoard of Chinese guards surrounded them to keep them in order. I happened to be standing next to the school nutritionist who had been providing them with food and staying late every evening. As they passed, they all broke rank to grab her hands or bow in thanks. The sincerity of their gratitude was almost overwhelming.
As they filed onto the bus, they dutifully pulled the curtains closed--they had obviously been ordered to do this--but one by one, the curtains began to open, and they waved. They waved and waved until the bus was out of sight as if they couldn't say 'thank you' enough. I felt like I had no right to be there, that by sheer chance I had been born into a country that protected me from ever having to feel as these people did and that I would never be able to say that I truly understood. There was no compassionate look I could give them, no words...I wanted to do more than just wave goodbye. I wanted to act, and act in a way that would make a difference.
Unfortunately in China, one small triumph regarding North Korean refugees results in far greater defeats. A week or two after the refugees arrived at our school, the government cracked down and arrested 65 refugees and two aid workers in a Beijing raid. If you believe in prayer, say one for these people and all of the North Korean people. If you can, do something in your own neighborhood to help those that need it. Although it's impossible for us to truly solve the world's problems completely, it is possible to influence the lives of the people you meet along the way if you only take the time to help. I believe that evil is powerful enough to fill up the empty spaces with pain and suffering, but I also believe that good is strong enough to push it back. And we are responsible for the good. We are all responsible for making good.
The North Korean experiment in socialism has failed like most, meaning that the people are literally starving. Jobs are scarce, and opportunities to overcome the perpetual poverty are nonexistant outside of escape. The problem is, escape from North Korea is considered treason. If refugees are caught, they are sentenced to time in hard labor camps or death. Even if people are able to escape, they don't always find a better life on the other side of the border. Women and girls who escape to China are usually sold as sex slaves, and children aren't able to gain an education, are eventually denied jobs, and continue to live in a cycle of poverty.
The Korean refugee situation in China is especially sensitive. North Korea and China are extremely close allies, and China is bound by treaty to return all refugees back to the North Korean government. However, China is also bound by international law to grant asylum to refugees who will face persecution upon return to their home country. Because of their ties with North Korea, most refugees are quietly sent back to North Korea, so aid groups and the "underground railroad" have come up with inventive tactics to make China act according to their obligations under international law. If refugees can receive widespread media attention, the Chinese government will usually allow them some type of asylum which eventually gains them access to South Korea or another country that will accept them. This group received the media attention it needed.
Within an hour of their arrival, our campus was crawling with media, so this group was probably assisted by an organized aid group, though we have no way of really knowing. Reporters were glued to the windows trying to get a shot of the group or anyone involved with them. Doors were locked. Eventually the gates were locked and everyone was kept outside except teachers and students. We were instructed to say nothing to the reporters outside and were suddenly subject to ID checks by school guards, who in their enthusiasm to do their job, tried to keep me out of the school one day as I was returning from a class in another building.
Neither the South Korean Embassy nor the South Korean Consulate had room in their refugee shelter in Beijing for the refugees, so they stayed at our school. Teachers and other school officials stayed the night making sure they were fed and taken care of. The school was providing them with food, a place to sleep and a place to bathe. Those of us who couldn't speak Korean gathered up warm clothes for them to change into so that they would be able to have clean clothes and toys for the two children that were with the group. After staying at our school for over two weeks, the refugees were finally able to go to the South Korean Consulate's refugee shelter. By sheer coincidence, I happened to be working late the night they were set to leave. When I went downstairs to leave, there was more activity on the first floor than usual. A coworker advised me that I should stay and help to see them off. I felt like I was invading on something beyond me and too sacred for me to comprehend.
I watched those who had already packed as they stood and talked, holding their children at their sides, rocking the children back and forth to some unheard music. They seemed so happy and at ease. Finally, they were told to get in line, and a hoard of Chinese guards surrounded them to keep them in order. I happened to be standing next to the school nutritionist who had been providing them with food and staying late every evening. As they passed, they all broke rank to grab her hands or bow in thanks. The sincerity of their gratitude was almost overwhelming.
As they filed onto the bus, they dutifully pulled the curtains closed--they had obviously been ordered to do this--but one by one, the curtains began to open, and they waved. They waved and waved until the bus was out of sight as if they couldn't say 'thank you' enough. I felt like I had no right to be there, that by sheer chance I had been born into a country that protected me from ever having to feel as these people did and that I would never be able to say that I truly understood. There was no compassionate look I could give them, no words...I wanted to do more than just wave goodbye. I wanted to act, and act in a way that would make a difference.
Unfortunately in China, one small triumph regarding North Korean refugees results in far greater defeats. A week or two after the refugees arrived at our school, the government cracked down and arrested 65 refugees and two aid workers in a Beijing raid. If you believe in prayer, say one for these people and all of the North Korean people. If you can, do something in your own neighborhood to help those that need it. Although it's impossible for us to truly solve the world's problems completely, it is possible to influence the lives of the people you meet along the way if you only take the time to help. I believe that evil is powerful enough to fill up the empty spaces with pain and suffering, but I also believe that good is strong enough to push it back. And we are responsible for the good. We are all responsible for making good.
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