North Korean refugee granted temporary asylum in Russia on fourth attempt

Russia’s Federal Migration Service has granted temporary asylum to a North Korean refugee who has been seeking this status since 2013. The foreigner has held his new status since May 26, having had his application rejected on three occasions previously.

Most countries that have signed the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees agree that absolutely all North Korean citizens have the right to be granted asylum elsewhere regardless of the circumstances surrounding their escape from the country. The North Korean government sees all people who have left the territory without authorization as criminals. Upon their return, which is often involuntary, such individuals are imprisoned in work camps along with their families or executed by shooting.

The asylum seeker arrived in Russia via China, having escaped from a North Korean work camp, to which he was confined as a result of a previous escape to China in 1997. The North Korean was granted temporary asylum after proving to Russia’s Federal Migration Service that his life is in danger.

On February 3, 2016, Russia and North Korea signed an agreement that requires the two states to extradite bilaterally all citizens of each respective state who illegally arrive in the other. Russian human rights watchdog Memorial says this agreement “has made many Russians, including officials and law enforcement officers, accomplices in crime.”

For backstory on this case, see: The man who fears everyone: Will Russia send a refugee to die to North Korea?