Liverpool FC Forum

by 82-1074641017 » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:01 pm

Taken from BBC News:



Thai police have detained 175 North Koreans in a raid on a house in suburban Bangkok.

It is the largest group of North Koreans ever suspected of illegally entering Thailand, officials say.

The group, most of them women and children, will be charged with illegal entry and face possible deportation to a third country, according to police.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have tried to leave their country in recent years, fleeing hunger and repression.

They often seek asylum at the embassies of third countries, but many are thought to be in hiding in South East Asia.

Officers raided the house late on Tuesday night, after receiving a tip-off from neighbours.

They found a total of 45 males and 130 females inside the building in Bangkok's Huay Kwang district. Twenty-five of the group were children.

Of these people, 16 had already been granted refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and were soon due to leave Thailand for South Korea.

The other 159 are thought to have no documents, but are also reportedly seeking asylum.

"This is the biggest single arrest of North Koreans" in Thailand, Police Major General Pramoj Pathumwong told Reuters news agency.

Most North Koreans who manage to leave their impoverished homeland travel across the border to a region of north-east China populated by ethnic Koreans, but they face repatriation if caught by the Chinese authorities.

Some then manage to cross China to reach South East Asia, where they have the chance of being sent on to South Korea. Most of these transfers are done outside the public gaze, to avoid confrontations with Pyongyang.

But on rare occasions, these transfers become public knowledge. In July 2004, more than 460 refugees arrived in South Korea on a special flight from an unnamed third country, thought by analysts to be Vietnam.

There have also been many cases of North Koreans targeting foreign embassies in China, in the hope of seeking asylum.





Just hope for the North Korean escapees that the Thai authorities realise their plight and send them to South Korea and not to the North where they will surely face life in a brutal prison or even death. 

by Woollyback » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:17 pm

many thanks to our north korea correspondent. mr jong has expressed his gratitude by having your erstwhile yellow card framed for his mantlepiece

by 82-1074641017 » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:19 pm

Woollyback wrote:many thanks to our north korea correspondent. mr jong has expressed his gratitude by having your erstwhile yellow card framed for his mantlepiece

   

by 66-1120597113 » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:22 pm

It must have been a huge house that one!!

Unfortunately this is happening all over the world Roberts...i lived in a dodgy area a while back,the rent was cheap so it was good for immigrants in that area!

We(us and our neighbours) used to wonder why or how so many of them could live in a small house,There was different cars every night,different women and men babies all the time!! It was well strange...i figured they slept 7 deep and 6 long on the floor!
There used to be a lot of Southern Irish reg cars outside........this was strange in itself also as they claimed to be asylum seekers!!

It turned out when facts came to light that 14(yes Fourteen) families were using this house as a means to stay the night after driving from Cork(Botton of Ireland)to Belfast to get up in the morning,go down to the Dole office and claim benefits as i and my girlfriend headed to work to pay for them by tax!

These 14 families were also claiming benefits in the Republic of Ireland,having rent paid,clothing allowance etc. etc.
Ignorant people may claim that this in an isolated case...Its not

I have the very deepest sympathies for anyone that genuinely needs help and seeks asylum as your case seems to highlight Roberts!

Lets hope they all get sorted and safe.

In Belfast i have yet to meet a genuine asylum seeker that is not out to screw a weak British system..if i ever did they could stay in my spare room!!