In the News – AusAID On The Road In DPR Korea

In the News – AusAID On The Road In DPR Korea

Australian aid officials recently went on a field mission to Wonsan, Hamhung and Nampo port to monitor Australian assistance to women and children through WFP in DPR Korea.

The mission visited a pediatric ward and a private household in Wonsan city before overseeing the arrival of Australian funded soya beans at Nampo port.

One third of all Korean children under 5 are suffering from under nutrition, mainly caused by insufficient food and lack of protein. Soya beans are a key ingredient for ‘Super Cereal Corn Soya Milk Blend’, which is distributed to children and pregnant and breastfeeding women to combat hunger.

The impact of AusAID’s contribution to the WFP’s operation ‘Emergency Assistance to Vulnerable groups in DPRK’ is significant, with almost 2.5 million children and women in DPRK benefitting from Australian support throughout the life of the operation. Australia has provided over US$7.5 million to WFP’s current DPRK operation.

 

Original article can be found here.

The Weight of an Applicant’s Spectacles

“There is great hardship in North Korea.” So runs the first line of a summary of an applicant’s claim for an Australian protection visa.

These court cases are fascinating. At times they are impersonal, filled with case numbers and legal abbreviations and impenetrable prose. But sometimes little details blink out like a star in a hole in the clouds, and it is refreshing.

Concealed by the Falling Snow

Case NSD460 of 2005 (Australian Court Review)

Today it is my hope to bring to you the joy that comes from reading an Australian court record.

I provide brief highlights, but if you have more time, the whole document makes for fascinating reading.

This, then, is a glimpse into the life in North Korea, and the escape from it, of an applicant for asylum.

Researching Refugees

North Korean Asylum Seekers (Photo Credit: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

This summer, when I wasn’t driving around in a minivan or eating dinner or talking about Gossip Girl with North Korean refugees, I dabbled in some online research on foreign policy.

This was on assignment from the Ministry of Unification’s Resettlement Support Division, the department that looks after North Korean refugees during their integration process. I looked into Chinese, South Korean, US, Australian, UK, and Canadian policies with respect to North Korean refugees—those are at least the countries with plentiful information available in English about their policies, and generally are also the ones with the greatest influx of North Korean refugees.