12 2 STA T .3940PUBLIC LA W 110 – 34 6—O CT. 7, 200 8(8)Sinceth e pas sa g e of the N o r th K orean Hum an R ights A ct ,C ongress has on se v era l occasions e x presse d interest in the status of North Korean refugees, and on F e b ruar y21 , 2 0 0 6 , a bipartisan group of senior M embers of the House and Senate w rote Secretary of State Condolee z za Rice ‘ ‘to express [ their ] deep concern for the lac k of progress in funding and implementing the key provisions of the North Korean Human Rights Act ’ ’, particularly the lack of North Korean refugee admissions to the U nited States . ( 9 ) Although the United States refugee resettlement pro - gram remains the largest in the world by far, the United States has resettled only 37 North Koreans in the period from 200 4 through 2007. (10) From the end of 2004 through 2007, the Republic of Korea resettled 5 ,961 North Koreans. (11) E xtensive delays in assessment and processing have led numerous North Korean refugees to abandon their q uest for United States resettlement, and long waits (of more than a year in some cases) have been the source of considerable discouragement and frustration among refugees, many of whom are awaiting United States resettlement in circumstances that are unsafe and insecure. (12) From 2000 through 2006, the United States granted asylum to 15 North Koreans, as compared to 60 North Korean asylum grantees in the United Kingdom, and 135 in G ermany during that same period. SEC.3 .SE N SE OF CON GR ESS. I t is the sense of Congress that — (1) the United States should continue to make it a priority to seek broader permission and greater cooperation from foreign governments to allow the United States to process North Korean refugees overseas for resettlement in the United States, through persistent diplomacy by senior officials of the United States, including United States ambassadors to Asia- P acific nations
(2) at the same time that careful screening of intending refugees is important, the United States also should make every effort to ensure that its screening, processing, and resettlement of North Korean refugees are as efficient and expeditious as possible; (3) the Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues should be a full-time position within the D epartment of State in order to properly promote and coordinate North Korean human rights and humanitarian issues, and to partici- pate in policy planning and implementation with respect to refugee issues, as intended by the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public L aw 108 – 333; 22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.); (4) in an effort to more efficiently and actively participate in humanitarian burden-sharing, the United States should approach our ally, the Republic of Korea, to revisit and explore new opportunities for coordinating efforts to screen and resettle North Koreans who have expressed a wish to pursue resettle- ment in the United States and have not yet availed themselves of any right to citizenship they may en j oy under the Constitu- tion of the Republic of Korea; and 2 2 USC7801note.
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