Marzuki Darusman, the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea, said such employees were paid very little and did not have enough to eat.
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He told a news conference Wednesday that the practice has become more visible in recent years and that “the numbers have grown”.
“Where the money came from I think that baffles economists, nobody really seems to know, I mean North Korea’s under a lot of sanctions, their economic record is not particularly fantastic, so how has this managed to fund the creation of a new class of people who have money to spend on a few fairly frivolous things, this is a bit of a mystery to be honest, nobody has explained it adequately yet”, he said. But the rest are spread across a range of countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
The North Korean government’s crimes against humanity are known throughout the free world.
Employers pay “significantly higher amounts” directly to the North Korean government, he said in his report.
He reportedly cited an worldwide Network for the Human Rights of North Korean Overseas Labor 2012 report that said the reclusive Asian nation was believed to get between US$1.2 billion (RM5.1 billion) and US$2.3 billion (RM9.9 billion) a year from its workers employed in foreign countries.
Furthermore, when a human rights non-governmental organization (NGO) sent balloons filled with leaflets to the North in 2014 and 2015, the North Korean military shot at balloons to prevent them from crossing the border.
He accused the North Korean government of violating the worldwide Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it has signed and which bans forced labour.
“They should report any abuses to the local authorities, which have the obligation to investigate thoroughly, and end such partnership”, his report said.
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Although evangelism carries the risk of the death penalty or imprisonment in labour camps, there are an estimated 300,000 Christians living in secret in North Korea. With the divided family reunions taking place and private-sector exchange picking up speed after the August 25 agreement between North and South Korea, there are optimistic predictions that a meeting between government officials from the two sides could be held as early as next month. They work primarily in the mining, construction and logging industries, assigned to the more unsafe tasks.
