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Senator's legislation would let N. Koreans apply for asylum
Senator Sam Brownback (Republican of Kansas) introduced legislation June 25 that would, if passed by the U.S. Congress, allow North Korean refugees to apply for refugee status or asylum in the United States.
"The United States must help the desperate refugee situation in North Korea," Brownback said in a press announcement released the same day. "Thousands of North Koreans have fled the brutal regime of Kim Jong Il seeking freedom, and food to survive. We must aid their efforts."
The bill, S. 1336, is intended to clarify and establish that the United States can and will accept North Korean refugees, according to the senator.
"We must stand with those who seek to shed the bonds of tyranny for the light of liberty," Brownback said. "We will press our cause forward in the Congress and with the Administration, the Chinese government, UNHCR and the entire international community."
North Koreans who flee into neighboring China are regularly repatriated back to North Korea and often face sentences to labor camps or execution.
Sen. Brownback is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Following is the text of S. 1336, as published in the U.S. Congressional Record
S. 1336
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to ensure that North Koreans are not barred from eligibility for refugee status or asylum in the United States on account of any legal right to citizenship they may enjoy under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. This Act is not intended in any way to prejudice whatever rights to citizenship North Koreans may enjoy under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea.
SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF NATIONALS OF THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA.
For purposes of eligibility for refugee status under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157), or for asylum under section 208 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1158), a national of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea shall not be considered a national of the Republic of Korea.
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