Don’t close the doors on us now 

By Bada Kim 

A story of settlement: How North Korean refugees live in Britain 

The small town of New Malden in South London shelters a large North Korean community. 48-year-old Jung Hyuk Shin is currently an employee of a Korean supermarket in New Malden. Some 20 years ago, he was a labourer in Siberia under Kim Il Sung's dictatorship until he escaped in 1994. Shin shudders as he recalls his ‘nightmarish’ experiences in Siberia: a ‘monotonous continuation of unpaid labour’ over 3 long years. There was no accommodation, so he carried a 'poorly made wooden box' in the back of a truck and used it as shelter. He cannot remember the number of hours he worked each day, but recalls starting work ‘the moment he opened his eyes’ and not stopping until he ‘closed them again’. Shin watched his colleagues die of disease and fatigue but he carried on, reminding himself that he will soon be reunited with his wife and children in North Korea. However, when he received no pay in the entire 3 years he worked, he became desperate and fled the logging areas of the Siberian mountains, spending the next 6 years reaching Britain. Decades have passed since the British Government recognised him as a refugee, but he is yet to hear from his two sons, who were 6 and 30 months old when he left. Shin’s only wish when he left Siberia was freedom. His only wish now is to share the freedom he’s found, with his family. 

A United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees report published in 2010 account a total of 917 North Korean refugees around the world; but experts estimate a figure over 2000. Of the 917 recognised refugees, 581 are documented to be resident in Britain, making it the most favoured country by North Korean refugees. However, when including those who are still awaiting the results of their application and those who have been rejected, it is possible to presume the population of North Koreans in Britain to near 1000. 

Since the first 17 approved refugee applications in 2004, the number of North Korean refugees in Britain has increased annually. There are many reasons for Britain’s popularity, but the two most compelling are the Government’s increased interest in the human rights of the North Korean people and a comparatively easier refugee application process. Other contributing factors include the fame of the 007 James Bond series, equal rights for women and advanced social services which allow children to be ‘educated, not brainwashed’. 

Most North Korean refugees in Britain work in construction. The majority speak no English so they work with South Koreans. However, 45-year-old Chul Ho Kim, a graduate of a North Korean university, has recently enrolled on an English course at Kingston University. He spends his mornings studying, and afternoons working at a Korean company in New Malden. When he first arrived in Britain, Kim wished ‘nothing but freedom’ for his family. Now, with his wife and children having been recognised as refugees, his dream has become more ambitious: to open an English school in North Korea. 

Britain is a ‘dreamland’ of ‘countless opportunities’ to North Korean refugees. However, rooting in Britain is becoming increasingly difficult. The Government’s move to complicate refugee application procedures follows the discovery of refugee statuses being wrongly granted to ethic Koreans from Yanbian in China and North Koreans who have settled in South Korea before coming to Britain. The detection of such dupery has pushed the Government to be more meticulous in the issuing of refugee statuses. 

North Korean refugees, however, say that there are irregularities in the way the British Government examines applications for refugee recognition. Kim described numerous cases where people received ‘different results’ despite having the ‘same requirements’ for recognition as a refugee. He, like many refugees, suspects that the Government is ‘no longer assessing against a criteria, but a percentile limit in population number’. 

30-year-old Young Gwang Park left his family in North Korea when he came to Britain. The Government issued him with temporary accommodation while his refugee application was being processed. When he left the room empty for a month to be with his girlfriend, a refugee he met in Britain, the Council ordered him to vacate the property and immediately stopped his weekly ￡40 allowance. Park tried to explain that the consequences for not going home were never explained to him, but his pleas were ignored. Homeless, hungry and destitute, Park confessed that he did once consider theft, for it seemed the only way for him to survive. However, each time he had such thoughts, he reminded himself of all that he risked when he fled North Korea, and the opportunities Britain, the 'dreamland', had yet to offer him. 

North Korean refugees speak in unison about not wanting to be reliant on the British’s taxes: ‘I came to Britain for the opportunities it offers, not state benefits. I don’t want taxpayer’s money.’ The refugees say that issuing a Temporary Work Visa ‘makes sense’ - so that they may ‘support themselves’ while awaiting the results of their refugee application. 

North Korean refugees, once recognised by the Government, find work quickly and are very committed employees. They follow British legislations as legal taxpayers, because they know that Britain does not discriminate against the law-abiding. Furthermore, refugees in Britain can afford the comfort of investing in self-development. Shin, who didn’t know the alphabet when he first arrived in Britain, taught himself English and passed his driving test with ease. Working as a van driver, he grows his bank account in the hope of living with his family again. Kim, the university student, continues to study in the hope of writing his autobiography in English. Park hopes to start a family, and is ‘overwhelmed’ at the thought that his children can receive ‘proper education’. To them, Britain is a land of hope, a ‘dreamland’ of ‘countless opportunities’. 

The names in this article have been changed at the refugees' request, as they do not wish to be identified. This isn’t because they fear for their own safety, but for their family who still live under ‘the most oppressive regime on earth’. There is only one thing North Korean refugees really want, and that is to reunite with their family. It isn’t the ‘ideology’ that compels refugees to call North Korea 'home', but the family left behind. North Korean refugees defected to Britain having chosen it as their ‘new’ home. Wouldn’t it be right to keep the doors open for them?