[imText1]Following the September military coup in Thailand last year, authorities have been strengthening regulations against smuggled defectors and have begun an intensified hunt down for defectors.<\/p>\n
An \u201cInternational Fact-Finding Mission on North Korean Refugees in Thailand\u201d was conducted by Korean and Japanese human rights organizations from Feb 25th to March 1st, which aimed to understand the current situation of North Korean defectors in Thailand. The results were recently released by Vice-President, Song Yoon Bok of Japan\u2019s \u201cSociety to Help Returnees to North Korea\u201d and Kim Sang Heon, Chairman for the \u201cLife Funds for North Korean Refugees.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the report, the Thai government has begun enforcing strict control over the border regions and a search for defectors as they believe that public security is being threatened with the sudden rise of illegal defectors. Furthermore, the report found that defectors were being held in custody in harsh conditions, being detained in small cells with numbers exceeding double the capacity limit.<\/p>\n
The report claimed that the number of defectors admitted into Thailand through immigration had steadily increased every year and that the figure had already reached 87 as of February. The report stated that overcrowding was an issue to the point that people could not even sleep with their legs stretched out and that \u201cclose to 350 refugees are being held in a facility with a maximum capacity of 130.\u201d <\/p>\n
In addition, hygiene issues were causing infections and disease particularly in the eyes and skin, and that many defectors were experiencing discomfort as there were limited toilet facilities. Furthermore, the Thai government was only providing meals and no medicine nor other daily necessities. <\/p>\n
In the past, the Thai government had offered churches and NGO\u2019s as a form of shelter for defectors, but since the coup d’état, defectors are now seen as law breakers. If anyone helps a defector, they are accused of being a supporter of illegal migrants and are arrested. <\/p>\n
Vice-president Song petitioned, \u201cMany defectors are living in custody under extreme harsh conditions as a result of t Thai government\u2019s strict policy\u2026 They urgently need the international society\u2019s help in gaining status to enter South Korea or other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cDefectors are not illegal migrants and need the protection of refugee status. NGO\u2019s must strive to develop a system where defectors can be assisted.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[imText1]Following the September military coup in Thailand last year, authorities have been strengthening regulations against smuggled defectors and have begun an intensified hunt down for defectors. An \u201cInternational Fact-Finding Mission on North Korean Refugees in Thailand\u201d was conducted by Korean and Japanese human rights organizations from Feb 25th to March 1st, which aimed to understand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":169,"featured_media":3864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n