Refugee Awareness Resources

Many at the Seoul Train screening last July expressed interest in helping out with the North Korean refugee issue. Below is a list of resources to help you get involved. You can also call or write your Congressperson or other government officials. Students can start petition drives at their schools.

LiNK:
LiNK stands for Liberty in North Korea. It is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-ethnic and non-religious group formed in pursuit of the following mission statement:
To educate the world about North Korea.
To advocate for human rights, political and religious freedom, and humanitarian aid for North Korea.
To empower citizens of the world to take effective action and make a difference.
To bring together and support existing NGOs and other organizations working to achieve the same ends.
To tell the world the truth.

The International Rescue Committee:
At work in 25 countries, the IRC delivers lifesaving aid in emergencies, rebuilds shattered communities, cares for war-traumatized children, rehabilitates health care, water and sanitation systems, reunites separated families, restores lost livelihoods, establishes schools, trains teachers, strengthens the capacity of local organizations and supports civil society and good-governance initiatives. For refugees afforded sanctuary in the United States, IRC offices across the country provide a range of assistance aimed at helping new arrivals get settled, adjust and acquire the skills to become self-sufficient. Committed to restoring dignity and self-reliance, the IRC is a global symbol of hope and renewal for those who have taken flight in search of freedom.

Refugees International:
Refugees International generates lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection for displaced people around the world and works to end the conditions that create displacement.

Amnesty International:
In late 1960, a British lawyer named Peter Benenson (1921 - 2005) learned that two students had been sentenced to seven years in prison for daring to toast to freedom in a Lisbon bar. Outraged, Benenson published an article in the London Observer on May 28, 1961 asking readers to write letters to Portugese officials demanding the students’ release. The article unleashed a wave of support for the students and other prisoners of conscience, and Amnesty International was born.

United Nations Human Rights Council:
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), a department of the United Nations Secretariat, is mandated to promote and protect the enjoyment and full realization, by all people, of all rights established in the Charter of the United Nations and in international human rights laws and treaties. The mandate includes preventing human rights violations, securing respect for all human rights, promoting international cooperation to protect human rights, coordinating related activities throughout the United Nations, and strengthening and streamlining the United Nations system in the field of human rights. In addition to its mandated responsibilities, the Office leads efforts to integrate a human rights approach within all work carried out by United Nations agencies.