Body
I was recently invited to participate in the Rights in Exile Programme. Rights in Exile promotes the legal protection of refugees by centralizing resources for legal assistance providers and refugees. These resources include basic UNHCR materials, access to pro bono legal providers, country of origins experts (yours truly on North Korea, along with Leonid Petrov and Gilbert Algar Faria), training and post-deportation monitoring networks. Simply scanning the website is a reminder of the complexity of the refugee problem in North Korea and beyond. Legal aid is woefully undersupplied in most of the world, but is crucial to the assistance of refugees, and particularly securing recognition of refugee status in the first place; in many cases, including North Korea, status determination is a major hurdle.
In addition, the organization distributes the Rights in Exile Newsletter, a goldmine of current and archived information; a few useful things are posted for North Korea including a situation report for the East Asia region and a campaign against Chinese refoulement, or return of refugees to North Korea. Among the other useful things on the site: a very helpful set of links to refugee organizations and resources.
NGOs in Action Posts
Witness to Transformation is always interested in showcasing NGOs doing humanitarian and human rights work on North Korea; if you know of organizations or work that would be of interest to our readers, feel free to inform us.
The American Friends Service Committee
National Endowment for Democracy: North Korea Funding
