512 people undergo deportation procedures. Refugee applications drop sharply.
The deportation of North Korean refugees living in Canada is accelerating.
According to data obtained by Free Asia Broadcasting (USA) from the Canadian Border Service, 242 North Korean defectors were deported from Canada for about five years from 2018 to September 28 of this year.
5 in 2018, 37 in 2019, 13 in 2020, 41 last year, and 24 this year.
In addition, 512 North Korean defectors are undergoing deportation procedures.
“The deportation of those whose asylum applications are rejected and those who violate the immigration law is a necessary step to maintaining the integrity of Canada’s immigration system,” the Border Services Agency said.
The federal government maintains its position that North Korean defectors who have acquired South Korean citizenship cannot be recognized as refugees.
Asylum applications by North Korean defectors have decreased significantly since 2014. The number of applications decreased from 146 in 2013 to 8 in 2014, and there was no one in 2016 and 2018. In 2019, there were 11 new asylum applications.
In this regard, Kim Rok-bong, president of the Toronto North Korean Defectors Association, said in an interview with the Daily News on the 13th, “The federal government started to deprive North Koreans of their refugee status because they acquired Korean citizenship, and it is estimated that about 80% of North Koreans have been deported.” “The good news is that the federal government has recently softened its hardline position and is granting legal status to North Korean refugees currently living in Canada for humanitarian reasons. I am also out of the crisis of deportation,” he said.
Chairman Kim explained that the recent change of position was the background to the recent change of position, thanks to the continued support of the Korean community, that the federal government began to understand to some extent the threat to the safety of North Korean refugees deported from Canada and the issue of discrimination in South Korea.