N. Korean Freedom Coalition Protests Thai Generals’ Pact With China’s Inhumanity

You may recall my previous post about the decision of the Thai military government to launch an “offensive” against North Korean refugees crossing into Thailand after a long and dangerous journey through China. The decision, by a government run by a military junta, reverses what had been the most humane policy in an undemocratic region. As is often true, democracy was only the first casualty; humanity soon became the next casualty. The generals’ decision comes despite the fact that the U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in North Korea is Thai, and has condemned China’s pitching of these innocent men, women, and kids back into Kim Jong Il’s furnace. Today, the Thai generals have committed themselves to helping China do just that.

The North Korean Freedom Coalition has taken note and led:

A coalition of some 60 human rights groups based in the United States this week filed a complaint with the Thai Embassy in the United States, protesting the Thai government’s recent crackdowns on North Korean defectors in the South Asian country, the head of the coalition said Saturday.

Suzanne Scholte, chairwoman of the North Korea Freedom Coalition, also urged others to “send similar appeals to the Thai ambassadors in their respective countries.” Scholte also heads a Washington-based congressional study group, the Defense Forum Foundation.

You can do exactly that, here. Remember that Thailand is a tourist destination as well. And while Thailand is certainly a beautiful place and worth seeing, it’s not the only place worth seeing, either. I would remind the embassy that making itself an accessory to the torture and murder of innocent people is reason enough to take a vacation somewhere else.

The NKFC’s list of represented organizations really no longer does the organization justice, since it’s made surprisingly strong inroads in Europe recently. There is hope that the Thai government will relent, and if it does, I’d be the first to support Thai claims for more assistance from the UNHCR, which is pretty much worthless on this issue, and has been for at least a decade.

It’s especially puzzing that the generals have launched an offensive against innocent refugees, most of them women and children, rather than using the full range of its police, military, and intelligence resources against a growing terrorist threat in the South. If resort areas like Phuket and Ko Samui become unsafe as a result of this irresponsible and inhumane misallocation of national security resources, it would be all the more tragic for Thailand.