| Which makes sense given that the whole country is a slave labor camp ... |
The North Korean government is directly engaged in the trafficking of slave labor, claimed Luis de Baca, the director of the U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, on Wednesday. He was peaking at a video press conference at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. He said the regime is sending North Koreans overseas to work under exploitative contracts with Southeast Asian, Eastern European and Middle Eastern nations.
| Yet another area, along with a banking squeeze, arms interdiction, stopping the money laundering and drug interdiction, where we can hurt the Norks. |
De Baca said European countries no longer accept North Korean workers, citing the example of the Czech Republic which has concluded no labor contract with North Korea since 2007. But he called for diplomatic efforts to persuade countries like Mongolia, Thailand and Laos, which do import labor from North Korea, to protect the workers' rights.
| You'd think Thailand and Laos for sure would have enough indigenous labor ... |
| One can never have too many brothel slaves, my dear, and so much better when it's someone else's daughters. |
In the "Trafficking in Persons Report 2009" released on June 16, the State Department says, "While exact figures are unknown, estimates of the number of North Korean contract workers recruited by the [North Korean] regime to work overseas for [North Korean] entities and firms vary widely, ranging from 10,000 to as high as 70,000." The maximum number of 70,000 is more than four times the figure of 15,000 estimated by the 2008 report.
"There continue to be credible reports that North Koreans sent abroad are subjected to harsh conditions, with their movements and communications restricted by [North Korean] government 'minders' and facing threats of government reprisals against them or their relatives in North Korea if they attempt to complain to outside parties," the report says. "Worker salaries are deposited into accounts controlled by the North Korean government, which keeps most of the money for itself, claiming fees for various 'voluntary' contributions to government endeavors."
In the report, North Korea ranks Tier 3, the lowest, alongside Iran, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. |