23 Countries Have Accepted North Korean Refugees

Stumbed upon (lower case) this fascinating UNHCR chart of countries that have accepted refugees from North Korea.  23 countries have accepted at least one refugee — definitely an international problem.  Original article here at RFA (Korean).

First of all, as of the end of 2008, Germany has granted refugee status to 1390 North Korean refugees.  I had NO idea so many have been accepted in any single country outside of South Korea.  The article says over 2000 have been accepted in other countries through 2008. In other words, over 10% of all North Koreans granted refugee status have received it outside of South Korea.  (I can’t find the precise number who’d settled in South Korea as of the end of 2008, but a rough estimate would be 14,000-16,000.)

If you take a closer look at the table above, there are all kinds of interesting things that stick out.  For example, before the NKHR Act was passed in the US, a handful of refugees had already been accepted.  And several of the countries on the list are not exactly rights-respecting countries, which makes one wonder the particulars of these cases.

Should anyone be able to find the original UNHCR chart on their website — hopefully with a related report or explanation — please leave a comment.