No Asylum in Thailand For North Koreans

[Gaybutton]

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST:

_____

 

Authorities Crack Down on North Korean Asylum Seekers

 

THEERAWAT KHAMTHITA, WASSAYOS NGAMKHAM & MANOP THIP-OSOD

 

Chiang Rai _ Authorities are stepping up border surveillance to prevent North Korean migrants from trying to illegally enter Thailand so they can seek asylum in third countries. The alert comes after growing pressure from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for Thailand to deal seriously with illegal entry.

 

More North Korean migrants may be heading to Thailand due to the United Nations sanctions to curb Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, Mae Sai district's customs chief Jetsada Yaisun said.

 

The sanctions were imposed after North Korea declared it had carried out a test of a nuclear device on Oct 9.

 

At least 20 North Koreans who cross the border illegally are captured in Chiang Rai every month, most of them hoping to be granted asylum in South Korea, Pol Col Jetsada said.

 

Immigration police offices in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai, Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong districts will work with relevant state agencies to intercept the migrants. The efforts will focus on the 130km stretch of the Mekong river, the natural border with Laos, in Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong districts, he said.

 

''Next-door neighbours, particularly Laos and Burma, will be asked to catch asylum seekers when they get to the jump-off points in those countries,'' he said.

 

Charged 150,000 baht per head by Chinese smuggling rings, the North Koreans are ferried on speedboats from China to Laos for a brief rest there.

 

They are eventually taken into Thailand through Chiang Rai.

 

The whole trip from China to Laos takes only five hours, compared to a week on a Chinese cargo ship.

 

In Bangkok, police will today recommend the arraignment of 91 North Koreans caught in an apartment in Pathum Thani on Tuesday on illegal entry charges.

 

Immigration Bureau chief Suwat Thamrongsrisakul said that after legal proceedings, the bureau would transfer the 91 suspects who had sought asylum in South Korea to the care of the UNHCR and the South Korean embassy.

 

Pol Lt-Gen Suwat said he would propose that the government map out long-term solutions to the problem.