NEW GROUP OF NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES ARRESTED IN

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENTIANE 000366

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS (BESTIC)
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/K
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM
DEPARTMENT FOR G/SENK (WHITON)
PACOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/06/2017
TAGS: PREF PHUM PGOV KN KS LA
SUBJECT: NEW GROUP OF NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES ARRESTED IN
VIENTIANE

REF: A. VIENTIANE 0337

B. VIENTIANE 0329

C. BESTIC-EMBASSY 05/04/07 E-MAIL

Classified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA M. HASLACH FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (
D)


1. (S) Summary: Activists from the Human Rights Without
Frontiers organization confirmed the presence to EmbOff of a
new group of nine North Koreans in detention in Vientiane.
The activists were able to deliver food and medicine to the
detainees. The South Korean Embassy says resolving the case
will not be done quickly: since the group members have been
arrested, their release will require a process of negotiation
over the amount of their "fines." End summary.

New Group of Detainees
--------------

2. (S) P/E Chief met May 6 with regional representatives of
Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) at their request. They
confirmed that there is a new group of North Koreans
currently at Khuk That Dam (the That Dam jail near the
Embassy) that includes seven women and two children. They
had been able to deliver food and medicines to the group on
May 5. They told P/E Chief their understanding is that the
South Korean Embassy is working to get this group released
and is likely to be successful.


3. (S) According to the HRWF group, having westerners show up
at the jail to deliver supplies does not create any problem
for the detainees. They feel the officials at the jail, like
most Lao officials they have worked with, are generally
sympathetic to the plight of the North Koreans. (One noted
that even after bribes are paid, the Lao officials remain
supportive and helpful rather than &walking away8 once they
have received their fees.) Nor do the HRWF activists feel
any sense of threat from the Lao side.

South Korean Embassy Confirmation
--------------

4. (S) ROK Embassy Counselor Miyon Lee (protect) confirmed to
P/E Chief that her Embassy is working to assist in a
resolution of this group's case. She predicted that it would
not be very easy since the group members had been formally
arrested. Currently the group members are "negotiating fees"
for their release. How quickly they will be able to go
through this process will depend on how much they are willing
to pay, according to Lee.

Internet Publicity
--------------

5. (SBU) Note: The Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human
Rights (NKHR) has already publicized this case, circulating
the information as part of a longer report May 3 and saying
NKHR had sent the ROK MFA an appeal to intervene in this
case. NKHR described the group as caught while trying to
cross from Laos to Thailand. A North Korean refugee already
resettled in South Korean had notified NKHR, asking for help
for her sister and her sister's son who are part of this
group (ref C).

The Overall Flow
--------------

6. (S) The HRWF activists told P/E Chief their organization
has assisted about 90 North Koreans to pass through Laos
during the past 12 months. The Japanese group Life Funds for
North Korean Refugees (LFNKR -- whose secretary-general Kato
Hiroshi issued the public statement last month complicating
the release of the three North Korean children recently held
in Laos -- refs A and B) probably assisted another 140. The
HRWF activists noted that Mr. Kato is well respected and
assessed his public comments, which they agreed did not help
the case of the three children, as being a product of
&frustration.8


7. (S) In addition to HRWF and LFNKR, there is an additional
Japanese group and four South Korean groups for a total of
seven main groups which managed about 700 North Koreans
passing through Laos during the past 12 months. The HRWF
activists commented that there are now also a couple of new
&for-profit8 organizations. The activists estimated that
in the previous 12 months (i.e., from mid-2005 to mid-2006)
the seven groups may have handled 500-600. When P/E Chief

VIENTIANE 00000366 002 OF 002


asked about the reports the Embassy had seen which said the
increased flow was even larger than an extra 100 persons per
year, the HRWF group said this was true: there is an
increased flow through China to the border area with
Southeast Asian countries including Laos. There apparently
is a fairly sizable -- and growing -- group of North Koreans
waiting at the border for their turns to slip through the
network.

The U.S. Connection
--------------

8. (S) P/E Chief stressed that any connection involving the
United States would likely be unhelpful to the North Koreans
-) including any attempt to come to the Embassy or
mentioning the United States as the desired destination while
still in Laos. He noted that the three children,s case
having dragged on for so long was probably because the United
States had been mentioned as a destination. One of the HRWF
activists said that most North Koreans are brainwashed to
fear the United States, so the likelihood of them seeking a
U.S. connection was slim. P/E Chief stressed that, if the
refugees might want to go to the United States, they should
wait to say this until they are in Bangkok, and the activists
agreed.

Comment
--------------

9. (S) The HRWF activists appear professional and rational
about their activities (which cover a broad range of
countries (see www.hrwf.net)). The senior activist mentioned
to P/E Chief he had been to Laos as many as a dozen times
during the past several years -- without difficulty. They
will ask their local representative, who manages the HRWF
safe houses, to establish contact the Embassy, which will
help us better monitor at least one part of the increasing
North Korean refugee flow through Laos.
HASLACH