Aid Group Believes Half of All North Korean Defectors Suffer Trauma
Disorders
http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=BA9A7B:2F72C9DDoctors Without Borders says ordeal of fleeing North Korea causes
widespread psychological damage to those who attempt it
Members of human rights groups hold anti-North Korea banners for North
Korean refugees who are repatriated by the Chinese government in
downtown SeoulThe international aid group Doctors Without Borders says
at least half of all North Korean asylum seekers have probably been
psychologically damaged by their attempts to leave their homeland.
Doctors Without Borders says the ordeal of fleeing North Korea causes
widespread psychological damage to those who attempt it.
The group, known by its French initials MSF, helps about one hundred
North Korean defectors here in Seoul. The organization says 70 of them
have mild to severe psychological trauma. Their symptoms include
alcoholism, anti-social behavior, inability to sleep or concentrate,
and domestic violence.
Tom O'Connor represented MSF this week at an international conference
on North Korean human rights and refugees. He makes a sweeping
projection about the mental health of the refugees.
"We can reasonably say that more than 50 percent of that [refugee]
population - and that's something that we strongly believe in MSF -
suffers from psychological illnesses," he said.
He says that assessment is based on interviews with North Korean
refugees both in South Korea and in other countries, such as China.
North Korea is one of the poorest countries in Asia, and has been on
the brink of famine for nearly a decade. It also has one of the
world's most repressive governments, which frequently imprisons not
only those suspected of political crimes, but also their families. The
people have almost no access to outside news media, arts or
entertainment.
About 100,000 North Korean refugees are believed to be hiding in
China, having crossed over the border to escape hunger and
persecution. For most, the goal is to reach a third country, usually
South Korea. Getting to South Korea involves a hazardous trip across
the border, months and even years of hiding in China, all the while
struggling to find food and shelter.
However, China treats North Koreans as economic migrants rather than
refugees, and sends them home, where they face harsh punishment or
even death. Many refugees make more than one attempt to flee before
finally reaching South Korea.
Human rights groups say the majority of the asylum seekers are women.
Mr. Connor says whether they are caught or not, they face many
ordeals.
"Crossing the border is physically a trauma, because you can be shot
at - being chased down systematically by the police, being sold to
Chinese soldiers, being raped, being pregnant, having your baby
killed," he said. "Being forced to sell your children, when you have,
because they're illegal. Being forced to see your child dying, or
murdered, in front of your eyes."
Female defectors provided this week's conference in Seoul vivid and
dramatic testimonies of the horrors they faced.
Park Sun-ja says that after being repatriated following one attempt to
flee, she witnessed newborn babies being killed in a North Korean
prison.
Ms. Park says in the early stages of their pregnancies, women were
given injections to induce miscarriage. She says a woman in her final
trimester was allowed to give birth, and the baby was suffocated with
a wet towel.
Kim Choon-ae says she was kidnapped in China by human traffickers -
something she says happens to many North Korean women. When she and
other women fought back, Ms. Kim says they were turned over to police
and forced home.
Ms. Kim says in a North Korean prison, the staff treated women
prisoners as sex slaves.
Psychologists say the full damage of the refugee experience sets in
only after North Koreans arrive in a safe country.
And often, being in South Korea creates new problems. The North
Koreans find it difficult to adjust to the high-technology,
high-pressure capitalism of the South. They struggle to find jobs, and
because of weaknesses in the North Korean education system, they
usually need extra training to meet job qualifications.
Many also face discrimination from South Koreans.
Ahn Hyun-nie, who is with the psychology department at Pusan National
University, says many refugees experience what is called Complex Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Very often, the symptoms appear as personality or behavior quirks,
such as being hot-tempered, which makes the underlying trauma hard to
diagnose. Ms. Ahn says those problems contribute to the discrimination
the refugees face.
"Being seen as having a difficult temperament or a difficult
personality decreases the chances of building and extending their
social support, once they arrive in South Korea - something which is
very crucial in their healing process," she said.
Mr. O'Connor, of Doctors Without Borders, says many South Korean
health professionals are reluctant to treat North Korean refugees.
"Maybe because they are afraid of seeing something which reminds them
of their past," he said. "Maybe it's too disturbing, because their
brothers are too close. Maybe because they don't know how to handle
all this suffering."
Only about 6,000 North Koreans have reached the South since the end of
the Korean War in the 1950s - more than half of them in just the past
three years. However, recent polls show more than half of all South
Koreans perceive the refugees as an economic and social burden.