Today in school we had some volunteers from the LiNK organization come talk to us about the horrific events takign place in North Korea. In theiir presentation, i was shocked to see and hear of the little rights the people there are able to obtain. When we usually think of North Korea, we think of nuclear weapons and such. However, no one is speaking out about the human rights crisis.

Under the dictatorship of Kim Jong Il and the Korean Workers’ Party, political concentration camps have been created as well as several crimes against humanity. Not only did it make me sad for the people of north korea who are constantly living under terror, but it also made me upset to see innocent people having to live in fear on a day to day basis.

"Estimates of 50,000 up to 400,000 refugees have fled to neighboring countries, risking torture and execution if captured and repatriated to North Korea. As a matter of policy, China repatriates all North Koreans that have illegally crossed the border, in blatant disregard and violation of the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.."

If those fleeing are caught, they are either sent back to North Korea where they are either put into concentration camps where their COMPLETE family will join them for the rest of their lives, or they are executed. Concentration camps are most definitely not better than living "freely." In the camps, guards are told to forget they are human the moment they set foot inside. People die of starvation and sometimes from the brutal beatings. Women are usually raped and 80% of them are sold into sex trafficing.

The people of North Korea are secluded from the rest of the world and are reluctant to let foreigners in within their borders, thus making help for these people difficult. However, there is something that we can all do to help. The first step, is getting more informed on what is happening and listening to the stories of refugees. After becoming informed, donate money, or simply help by telling the stories for those unable to tell them themselves, Tell everyone and anyone; just get them to listen.

For further information on the history of LiNK, ways to get involved, or cool merchandise, check out:

http://www.linkglobal.org