All of you probably know I absolutely hate LiNK (Liberty in North Korea) for reasons that can be found here. However, it’s more than just the financial part that irks me about them. Rather than making a long post about the pros (if there are any at all) and cons of LiNK, I decided to include the most asked question, “Why not LiNK but xx?”
I often find myself ‘screening’ non-profit organizations that claim to help North Korean refugees. Most of the time I ended up disappointed, shaking my head and closing the tab. The main reason for that usually is, they claim to send donations to North Korea but what do people who never escaped a country know about the costs of escaping? Where is your money really going? Because let me tell you, it’s not a ‘I donate, they send the money to China and they give it to North Koreans personally’ thing. Unfortunately. I’m still working on a post about all the finances of escaping so instead of focusing on the exact cost of every step that refugees need to make, I’ll focus on something else in this post: where your money should go to.
One of the very few organizations I’ve found and support is nkhrrescuefund. The reason why I like them so much? Basically, their whole “Where the Money Goes” tab. This is crucial, since we’re comparing anyway, LiNK doesn’t state anywhere where the money they receive goes to. “It goes to North Korean refugees”, but nothing else.
(site) They tell you exactly what your money is used for and what they’re saying is accurate. Chinese brokers are the biggest reason why refugees would need money. North Koreans who decide to take the route through Southeast Asia usually travel in groups. In order to stay safe they need shelters where they can stay in groups. (site)
In the last paragraph they state “In 2013, our parent NGO, Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR), spent approximately $95,000 helping 50 North Korean refugees reach South Korea. The NKHR Rescue Fund funded the rescue of five of those refugees.”
They give full credit to who helped them. They share the amount of money they used to save people and they also state exactly how many people they saved. They tell the stories of refugees in a discreet way. No interview, no photos, nothing too personal. I often talk about LiNK not ‘saving’ enough people, but why would I be so enthusiastic about them saving ‘only’ 50 refugees? Because they don’t just help them get to South Korea and leave them afterwards. This is incredibly important information.
NKHR’s focus is not just ‘helping North Koreans to get to South Korea safely’. They actually support several education programs. Education programs for North Korean refugees are rarely talked about whereas re-educating refugees is probably the most important step of the whole escape. People know Hanawon, but usually that’s the only one. Hanawon is not the best. It is run by the government and it extremely flawed in its way of treating people. NKHR doesn’t limit itself to just Hanawon. They support programs that offer the opportunity to connect with fellow refugees, scholarships, entertainment and courses to make the transition into South Korea. (site)
Correct me if I’m wrong, feel free to add to this one-named-list, but this is so far the only organization that supports these important programs. What’s even better is that they have a recent activity report. It shows that they care and take things seriously. They are willing to show proof of their achievements. For me, that’s a huge bonus.
I remember my eyes almost rolling out when I saw LiNK’s promotion video. The way they tried to sensationalize their actions, ugh. All it does is create a savior complex in those who use LiNK as their only source on North Korea. All they do is talk about bridges, helping North Koreans and aw, North Koreans can’t even use cellphones while South Koreans can dance to kpop. (huge shame, HUGE shame on them for saying such a thing) (Also, cellphones are actually used in NK)
NKHR has ‘facts’ on their site too. These are a lot more accurate than any of the stereotypical ones LiNK has been giving for years. (NK is behind, but come on. Things have changed a lot in even just the past two years. LiNK doesn’t seem to update themselves at all) (site)
I really like how they mention that most refugees are female. They mention the routes, they give the average cost of 1 escapee and they say it’s hard to publish photos. Although blurred, LiNK shamelessly posts the photos of refugees on their site. I mean, they’re not even trying to hide they see us as awards received by screaming their name in every university. We’re not animals at the zoo, thank you.
Also, very important, is how they honestly talk about China being a huge problem. They don’t blame only North Korea for the bad experiences of a refugee. They don’t just mention how women are often sold, they also mention how men are used as labor forces. As someone whose father lived this life for a good decade, I feel happy that he’s included in this too. They sound a lot more professional too. We are sold, we are used, we are getting abused and raped. LiNK e.g. states we sell ourselves for money, we marry Chinese men and we have no other option but becoming prostitutes. This might sound like just a minor thing, just a language difference, but it’s actually a big deal.
There are a couple of ways to get to South Korea, the two mostly used are the escape routes through Southeastern Asia and taking a plane in China to SK (latter is less common because of the high risk of getting caught. Only possible in very small groups or single person) The escape routes are pricy. Extremely pricy. I’m talking about more than a few thousands in total. (not the price refugees have to pay) Being part of one of those connections, I got to know there are a few hundreds of people involved in this, ranging from officers, drugs dealers, weapon distributors, human traffickers, brokers, people working for the government, taxi drivers, landlords, illegal Chinese men and adoption services. All these people need to get paid eventually and that’s why the cost of escaping is so high. You may see 3 of all the people working on one route, yet you have to pay for most of them.
NKHR says part of the donations goes to Chinese brokers, LiNK fails to even mention Chinese brokers, whereas they’re the people doing all the work.
Do you see those red lines from Beijing all the way to Thailand and Cambodia? That’s why it can easily take up to 5/10 years to get to South Korea. People get robbed, abused, illnesses… it can all contribute to losing money on your way to the Southeastern countries. The key point is not the time it takes to help a refugee get to the South, it is the safety and strictness that count the most.
Aside from this all, NKHR is just great because they raise awareness without spreading their name everywhere, and they actually educate people. NKHR always includes North Koreans in every activity they hold to raise awareness. Also, they’re fun, educative and it doesn’t neglect us. LiNK makes it all about themselves, whereas NKHR doesn’t. They acknowledge we are the people behind the stories, we are the ones who escaped, we are the ones who are trying to keep our heads above water. Our stories, our voices and anyone else only deserves little credit. Here’s the link to their blog.
the money is rarely ever touched by refugees personally
escaping is a lot more complicated than just ‘donating to refugees’
we can’t forget to credit all Chinese brokers and other people helping us, even if it is to make profit of us, even if they use refugees to save themselves
education programs are just as, if not more important than escaping itself
especially if you support LiNK, your money probably won’t even reach refugees. Thousands of dollars are stolen by brokers, too.
organizations like nkhrrescuefund.org > LiNK
refugees’ safety and privacy above all.
Conclusion is that people should educate themselves on refugees and escaping before they blindly support an organization. Especially if that organization is called Liberty in North Korea.
(thanks Alex for proofreading)
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