Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-07-Speech-4-178"
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"en.20060907.24.4-178"2
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".
Mr President, you know very well the sad story of the many North Koreans seeking asylum, and the latest case is now in Thailand.
The Commission deeply regrets that these refugees were not treated in accordance with international humanitarian law and urges the Thai authorities to respect the principle of non-refoulement, as they usually do, and to ensure safe passage to a third country where the refugees can be resettled. We hope that ongoing discussions between Thailand, the South Korean authorities and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees will result in the transfer of these persons to South Korea or another third country in the coming days. In this context, I would also like to highlight that the situation of the H’mong refugees from Laos living in Thailand is of great concern.
For North Koreans, asylum-seeking is the symptom and not the cause of an issue which is quite well known, namely, the undemocratic regime in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, with widespread poverty, the collapse of the economy and human rights concerns.
The European Union has an engagement policy with North Korea involving humanitarian aid, some EUR 345 million of European assistance since 1995, and people-to-people contacts and director-level Troika contacts, including on human rights. A Human Rights resolution was adopted by the United Nations in November 2005. This dealt, among other things, with the return of North Korean nationals to their country. The resolution angered the North Koreans, who suspended the humanitarian aid, which was only resumed a few months ago.
The European Union will continue with its support for the six-party talks and with its engagement policy in an attempt to obtain practical improvements and treat the cause of the problem.
I can assure you, on behalf of my colleague Mrs Ferrero-Waldner, that the Commission will also continue to follow events involving the refugees in Thailand closely, in the context – as Mr Cappato has just said – of EU-Asia dialogue."@en1
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