Saudi Arabia to enforce 'decency' amid tourism push

Yahoo – AFP, September 28, 2019

Saudi Arabia on Friday said citizens from 49 countries are eligible for online
e-visas or visas on arrival (AFP Photo/Fayez Nureldine)

Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia on Saturday said it would impose fines for violations of "public decency", including immodest clothing and public displays of affection, a day after the austere kingdom opened up to foreign tourists.

The interior ministry said it had identified 19 such "offences" but did not specify the penalties, as the ultra-conservative Islamic country begins issuing tourist visas for the first time as part of a push to diversify its oil-reliant economy.

"The new regulations require men and women to dress modestly and to refrain from public displays of affection. Women are free to choose modest clothing," a statement said.

"The regulations are meant to ensure that visitors and tourists in the kingdom are aware of the law relating to public behaviour so that they comply with it."

Saudi Arabia on Friday said citizens from 49 countries are now eligible for online e-visas or visas on arrival, including the United States, Australia and several European nations.

Kickstarting tourism is one of the centrepieces of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 reform programme to prepare the biggest Arab economy for a post-oil era.

But the conservative country, which forbids alcohol and is notorious for sex segregation, is seen as an unlikely destination for global tourists aside from Muslim pilgrims visiting holy sites in Mecca and Medina.

Men and women must avoid "tight fitting clothing" or clothes with "profane language or images", read an instruction on an English language website launched by the tourism authority.

"Women should cover shoulders and knees in public," it added.

But tourism chief Ahmed al-Khateeb said foreign women were not obligated to wear the body-shrouding abaya robe that is still mandatory public wear for Saudi women.

Prince Mohammed has sought to shake off his country's ultra-conservative image -- lifting a ban on cinemas and women drivers while allowing gender-mixed concerts and sporting extravaganzas.

The relaxed social norms in a kingdom have been welcomed by many Saudis, two-thirds of whom are under 30.

But new public decency guidelines, first approved by cabinet in April, are widely perceived to be vague and have sparked public concern that they would be open to interpretation.

They have also stoked fears of a revival of morality policing.

Saudi Arabia's religious police once elicited widespread fear, chasing men and women out of malls to pray and berating anyone seen mingling with the opposite sex.

But the bearded enforcers of public morality, whose powers have been clipped in recent years, are now largely out of sight.

Saudi Arabia is attempting a comeback on the global stage one year after journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder, but the crisis has weakened it and undermined its de facto leader's ambitious reforms, analysts say https://t.co/em7O5M25Ec pic.twitter.com/ZKdK9Nqwa6

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 29 september 2019

A personal bodyguard of Saudi Arabia's King Salman has been shot dead and seven others wounded, including security forces, during an altercation at a friend's home, authorities said https://t.co/25K67KmJ0d pic.twitter.com/SKz9nsf8dB

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 29 september 2019

Taiwan dismayed as another Pacific nation switches to Beijing

Yahoo – AFP, Sean CHANG, September 20, 2019

Seven states have now switched allegiance from Taipei to Beijing during
President Tsai Ing-wen's tenure (AFP Photo/Daniel Shih)

Taipei (AFP) - Taiwan lashed out at China on Friday after the tiny island nation of Kiribati switched its recognition to Beijing, the second diplomatic defection in the strategically important Pacific in less than a week.

The move is another coup for Beijing just weeks before it celebrates the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

It comes four days after the Solomon Islands made the same decision, and leaves Taiwan more isolated than ever with just 15 states left that recognise it.

At a hastily arranged press conference, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen said Kiribati's decision was a "mistake", adding that the country of just over 100,000 people had "given up a sincere friend and chosen to be China's chess piece".

Taiwan has been a de facto sovereign nation since the end of a civil war in 1949, but China still views the island as its territory and has vowed to seize it, by force if necessary.

Over the decades, as China's economic and military power has grown, most countries -- including the United States and most Western nations -- have switched recognition to Beijing.

In the last decade, only a handful -- largely impoverished countries in Latin America and the Pacific -- have remained loyal to Taiwan. The only European state to still recognise Taiwan is the Vatican.

Beijing stepped up its campaign to diplomatically isolate Taiwan after Tsai's 2016 election because she hails from a party that refuses to recognise the idea that the island is part of "one China".

On Friday, Tsai said more suppression from China was expected with fewer than 100 days to go until Taiwan's January elections.

"They (China) have only one goal, that is to sway the outcome of the presidential election," she said.

Earlier that day, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu announced that Taipei would immediately withdraw its diplomats and expected Kiribati to do the same.

He said Beijing had "lured Kiribati to change its diplomatic ties" with promises of investment and aid.

Map showing the countries that have direct diplomatic ties with Taiwan. (AFP Photo/)

Taiwan elections looming

Beijing praised Kiribati for cutting ties with Taiwan, saying it "highly appreciates the decision to resume diplomatic relations with China".

Seven states have now made the switch during Tsai's tenure, during which China has also ramped up military drills and squeezed the island economically.

The small African nation of Sao Tome and Principe was the first to fall in late 2016, followed by Burkina Faso and then three Latin American states: Panama, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.

Then on Monday came the Solomons, which had been deciding for months whether to make the move following the April election of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.

Taiwan heads to the polls in January, with Tsai seeking a second term and relations with China dominating the campaign.

She has described the vote as a "fight for freedom and democracy", setting herself up as someone who can defend Taiwan from an increasingly assertive Beijing.

Her main challenger, Han Kuo-yu, from the opposition Kuomintang party, favours rebooting the relationship with the island's giant neighbour.

"Timing is a factor here," Alexander Huang, a professor of international relations at Taipei's Tamkang University, told AFP, saying the upcoming 70th anniversary celebrations and the looming elections had pushed Beijing to pursue fresh defections in the Pacific.

With voters heading to the polls within months, he said, "Taiwanese should think really hard about cross-strait relations with China. Do we want to continue with this hostility... or do we need to make adjustments?"

But J Michael Cole, a Taipei-based expert with the University of Nottingham, said Taiwan has largely shrugged off the loss of diplomatic allies in recent years, knowing it cannot compete in chequebook diplomacy.

"The hoped-for psychological impact on the Taiwanese population has been diminishing with every ally stolen and as Taiwanese realise that in the end, it's the large, democratic and influential countries -- like the US, Japan, Germany -- along with a number of middle powers, that truly matter to Taiwan's survival," he said.

"Taiwan has made substantial progress deepening ties with those, and this, in my opinion, has more than counterbalanced the loss of small, investment and aid-hungry states as official diplomatic allies."

Suu Kyi 'culpability' in Rohingya abuses an 'open-ended question': UN investigator

Yahoo – AFP, 17 September 2019

Suu Kyi is a Nobel laureate who spent years in house arrest

UN investigators called Tuesday for an expert evaluation of whether Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi can be legally implicated in the abuses committed against the country's Rohingya minority.

The fact-finding mission to Myanmar, set up by the UN Human Rights Council, said they were not equipped to determine what level of responsibility Suu Kyi should shoulder for the Rohingya crisis.

"It will become a legal issue whether or not there is an element of culpability here," fact-finding mission chair Marzuki Darusman told reporters in Geneva.

The Human Rights Council recently created a panel to prepare criminal indictments over atrocities committed in the country -- the so-called Independent International Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) -- which could have the expertise to determine what responsibility Suu Kyi bears in the crisis.

A Rohingya child plays with a football inside a sewage pipe at a refugee camp

"It is still an open-ended question to what extent she might be implicated," Darusman said.

When asked if the Nobel laureate might be implicated, he said "that is for the judicial process to address," referring to the IIMM.

The fact-finding mission last year branded the army operation in August 2017 as "genocide" and called for the prosecution of top generals, including army chief Min Aung Hlaing.

Some 740,000 Rohingya fled burning villages, bringing accounts of murder, rape and torture over the border to sprawling refugee camps in Bangladesh, where survivors of previous waves of persecution already languished.

And in a damning report published Monday, the investigators warned that the 600,000 Rohingya still inside Myanmar's Rakhine state remain in deteriorating and "deplorable" conditions and continue to face a "serious risk of genocide".

Some 740,000 Rohingya fled burning villages, bringing accounts of murder,

rape and torture

The experts told the rights council on Tuesday that they had a confidential list of some 150 names, including officials, suspected of being involved in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

'Criminal responsibility'?

Darusman said that the investigators initially shied away from laying blame on Suu Kyi, who spent years in house arrest before her party in 2015 won Myanmar's first fully free vote for generations.

He said that the fact-finding team had taken into account that Myanmar was "going through a transition, a democratic transition, and therefore in our first report we absolved Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi from any direct responsibility."

But while it was likely that Suu Kyi was not aware in August 2017 of the army's activities, "the issue now is that subsequently, there was no further addressing of this issue on her part," Darusman said.

Major Rohingya refugee camp populations in Bangladesh, as of Aug 15, 2019

Another member of the fact-finding mission, Christopher Sidoti, acknowledged that "it is clear that the civilian side of the government does not control the military side of the government."

But "the civilian side of the government has very substantial constitutional responsibilities," he said.

"The longer this goes on, the more impossible it is for the civilian side of the government to escape international criminal responsibility for the human rights situation in Myanmar."

The fact-finding mission, which was never granted access to Myanmar, is expected to wrap up its work during the ongoing session of the Human Rights Council, due to end next week.

But the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights situation in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, should continue monitoring the situation.

Indonesia arrests nearly 200 over raging forest fires

Yahoo – AFP, September 16, 2019

The fires -- usually started by illegal burning to clear land for farming -- have
unleashed choking haze across Southeast Asia (AFP Photo/ADEK BERRY)

Indonesia has arrested nearly 200 people over vast forest fires ripping across the archipelago, police said Monday, as toxic haze sends air quality levels plummeting and sparks flight cancellations.

Jakarta has deployed thousands of personnel to battle blazes that are turning land into charred landscapes and consuming forests in Sumatra and Borneo islands, where thousands of schools have been shut over health fears.

The fires -- usually started by illegal burning to clear land for farming -- have unleashed choking haze across Southeast Asia, triggering diplomatic tensions with Indonesia's neighbours.

On Monday, authorities said they had arrested some 185 people suspected of being involved in activities that led to out-of-control fires sweeping the country.

"Indonesian Police will enforce the law against anyone who is proven to have carried out forest and land burning, whether it was done intentionally or through negligence," National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo told reporters in Jakarta.

Indonesia's peat fires: a smouldering problem (AFP Photo/John SAEKI)

"This is a last resort. The most important thing is prevention."

Four corporations were also being investigated, he added.

Last week, Indonesia sealed off dozens of plantations where smog-belching fires were blazing, and warned that owners -- including Malaysia and Singapore-based firms -- could face criminal charges if there was evidence of illegal burning.

Some of the most serious fires occur in peatlands, which are highly combustible when drained of water to be converted into agricultural plantations.

Thick haze in Borneo -- where air quality levels have plummeted to "dangerous" levels in some areas -- caused the cancellation of about a dozen flights Sunday, national airline Garuda said.

Rival Lion Air said about 160 Borneo flights had been affected at the weekend.

Meanwhile, nearly 150,000 people have been treated for acute respiratory infections linked to the haze in recent months, according to Indonesian health authorities.

Nearly 150,000 people have been treated for acute respiratory infections 

linked to the haze in recent months (AFP Photo/Str)

While forest fires are an annual problem, the situation this year has been worsened by drier weather in Indonesia, with diplomatic tensions soaring as toxic smog drifts over to neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.

The haze pushed Singapore's air quality to unhealthy levels for the first time in three years at the weekend.

In 2015, Indonesia suffered its worst forest fires for almost two decades, which dramatically increased its greenhouse gas emissions.

Huge fires tearing through the Amazon are also compounding concerns about the long-term impact of such blazes on keeping global temperature levels stable.

Related Article:

Singapore air 'unhealthy' ahead of F1 race

Iran says 'blue girl' football fan admitted 'mistake'

Yahoo – AFP, 14 September 2019

Iran has come under increasing pressure to lift a ban on women entering
stadidums (AFP Photo/JONATHAN NACKSTRAND)

Tehran (AFP) - An Iranian football fan who set herself ablaze and died after being arrested for trying to enter a stadium had "confessed her mistake" when she was questioned, the judiciary said Saturday.

Sahar Khodayari, dubbed "blue girl" because of the colours of the team she supported, Esteghlal FC, was reportedly detained when she tried to enter a stadium dressed as a man to watch them last year.

She died of her injuries in a Tehran hospital after setting herself on fire outside a court last week.

Her death sparked outrage online, with celebrities and activists using the hashtag #blue_girl to urge the sport's world governing body FIFA to ban Iran from competitions and fans to boycott matches.

Iranian women spectators have been barred from football and other stadiums in the Islamic republic since 1981, despite international pressure to let them attend.

Iran's Vice President for Women and Family Affairs Masoumeh Ebtekar on Tuesday asked the judiciary to investigate her death.

The judiciary said, without naming anyone, that a young woman had been arrested when trying to enter a stadium and faced charges of offending "public chastity and insulting" law enforcement officers.

On Saturday, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said Khodayari "had clearly confessed her mistake during questioning, accepted it and expressed regret". He did not give further details.

Esmaili, who was quoted by the judiciary's Mizan Online website, said no sentence had been issued against her since there had been no trial to begin with.

The spokesman also dismissed reports she had been told she would be jailed for six months as "fabricated rumours and hearsay".

Esmaili said such reports "stirred public opinion" and provided material for "foreigners and enemies" of Iran.

Despite the boycott calls following her death, Khodayari's father told Mehr news agency that she did not "sacrifice" herself for any cause.

Iran has come under pressure from FIFA to allow women to attend qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, and was reportedly given a deadline of August 31 to comply.

The sports ministry said last month that women fans would be allowed into the stadium when Team Melli -- as the national team are known -- play their next home qualifier on October 10.

Clerics argue that Iran's ban on women attending sports events is to protect them from the masculine atmosphere and sight of semi-clad men.

Related Article:

Saudi to allow women into stadium for national day

Singapore air 'unhealthy' ahead of F1 race

Yahoo – AFP, September 14, 2019

Singapore may continue to experience hazy conditions over the next few days,
the environment agency warned (AFP Photo/Roslan RAHMAN)

Singapore (AFP) - Pollution from forest fires in Indonesia pushed Singapore's air quality to unhealthy levels for the first time in three years on Saturday, the government said, a week ahead of the Formula One night race in the city.

The toxic smoke caused by burning to clear land for plantations is an annual problem for Indonesia's neighbours, but has been worsened this year by particularly dry weather.

"There has been a deterioration in the haze conditions in Singapore this afternoon," the National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a statement.

"This was due to a confluence of winds over the nearby region that led to more smoke haze from Sumatra being blown toward Singapore," it said, referring to one of the Indonesian islands where fires are raging.

The NEA said the pollutant standards index (PSI) worsened to 112 in parts of the island Saturday night.

An index reading between 101-200 is considered unhealthy, with residents advised against doing prolonged strenuous exercises outdoors.

Singapore may continue to experience hazy conditions over the next few days, the agency warned.

The city-state of 5.6 million people was shrouded in a thin white haze, with a few residents seen wearing face masks, but there was no major disruption to daily activities.

The F1 race is scheduled from Friday to Sunday on a street circuit in the Marina Bay financial district.

Singapore GP, the Formula One organisers, said the possibility of haze is one of the potential issues covered in their contingency plan for this year's grand prix.

"The plan was formulated and refined with stake holders, government bodies and the Formula One community," Singapore GP said in an emailed statement.

"In the event that the haze causes visibility, public health or operational issues, Singapore GP would work closely with the relevant agencies before making any collective decisions regarding the event."

Neighbouring Malaysia has also been affected by the smoke, with air quality in parts of the country including the capital Kuala Lumpur reaching unhealthy levels over the past few days and triggering a diplomatic row with Jakarta.

In 2015, the index reached "hazardous" levels of more than 300 in Singapore, forcing the closure of schools. Indonesian forest fires were the worst in two decades that year, firing up smog that blanketed large parts of Southeast Asia for weeks.

Archbishop of Canterbury prostrates over 1919 India massacre

Yahoo – AFP, 11 September 2019

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby paid tribute to the hundreds of people
killed at Amritsar in 1919

Britain has never apologised for the 1919 massacre at Amritsar in India but the head of the Church of England prostrated himself to say sorry in a personal capacity and "in the name of Christ".

British troops fired on thousands of unarmed men, women and children in Amritsar on April 13, 1919, killing 379 people according to colonial-era records. Indian figures put the total closer to 1,000.

"I can't speak for the British Government as I am not an official of the British Government. But I can speak in the name of Christ," Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said as he visited the location in northern India on Tuesday.

"I am so ashamed and sorry for the impact of the crime committed. I am a religious leader, not a politician. As a religious leader, I mourn the tragedy we see here," he added at the site, known in India as Jallianwala Bagh.

Welby visited the Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar

On Facebook he added that his visit aroused "a sense of profound shame at what happened in this place. It is one of a number of deep stains on British history. The pain and grief that has transcended the generations since must never be dismissed or denied."

The event 100 years ago marked a nadir in Britain's occupation of India, and served to boost Indian nationalism and harden support for independence.

In 1997 Britain's queen laid a wreath at a site during a tour of India. But her gaffe-prone husband Prince Philip stole the headlines by reportedly saying that the Indian estimates for the death count were "vastly exaggerated".

In 2013 David Cameron became the first serving British prime minister to visit Jallianwala Bagh. He described the episode as "deeply shameful" but stopped short of a public apology.

Ahead of centenary commemorations earlier this year, Cameron's since-resigned successor Theresa May on told parliament that Britain "deeply regretted what happened and the suffering caused." But she too didn't say sorry.

China fury as HK's Joshua Wong meets German foreign minister

France24 –AFP, 10 September 2019

Berlin (AFP) - Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong has met Germany's foreign minister as he carries abroad his call to support the growing pro-democracy movement in the former British colony, a meeting slammed on Tuesday by China as "disrespectful".

Posting a photo of himself and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on his Twitter account, the 22-year-old said they spoke on the "protest situation and our cause to free election and democracy in HK".

Beijing reacted angrily at their meeting during an event organised by Bild daily, saying "it is extremely wrong for German media and politicians to attempt to tap into the anti-China separatist wave".

"It is disrespectful of China's sovereignty and an interference in China's internal affairs," said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

"I want to stress once again that Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs. No foreign government, organisation or individual has the right to intervene," Hua said, adding that Beijing "strongly disapproves" of the meeting.

Wong, a prominent face in Hong Kong's growing pro-democracy protests, planned to hold talks with other German politicians during his visit to Berlin.

But there are no plans for Chancellor Angela Merkel to meet him, said her spokesman Steffen Seibert on Monday.

The activist's visit came on the heels of Merkel's trip to China, where she stressed Friday that the rights and freedoms of people in Hong Kong "must be guaranteed", after meeting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing.

Ahead of her three-day visit to China, demonstrators in the semi-autonomous city appealed to the German chancellor to support them in her meetings with China's leadership.

Wong himself had written an open letter to Merkel, seeking her backing.

- 'Hong Kong the new Berlin' -

Germany has emerged as a country of refuge for a number of Chinese dissidents in recent years, including Liu Xia, the widow of Chinese Nobel dissident Liu Xiaobo.

In May, two former Hong Kong independence activists were granted refugee status in Germany in what is one of the first cases of dissenters from the enclave receiving such protection.

Wong had arrived in Berlin late Monday after he was briefly detained in Hong Kong just before his departure to Germany following an error in his bail conditions from a previous detention.

He was among several prominent democracy advocates held late last month in a roundup by police as the city reels from more than three months of unprecedented pro-democracy protests.

Bild reported that Wong turned up late at the event it organised, but was still able to meet Maas at the gathering.

In a brief speech at the event, Wong vowed to "protest until the day that we have free elections".

"If we are now in a new Cold War, Hong Kong is the new Berlin," he said, referring to the post-war split between communist East Berlin and the democratic West.

"'Stand with Hong Kong' is much more than just a mere slogan, we urge the free world to stand together with us in resisting the autocratic Chinese regime," he added.

Wong was due to hold a public discussion on Wednesday evening at Humboldt University in Berlin and later travel to the United States.

He launched his career as an activist at just 12 years old and became the poster child of the huge pro-democracy "Umbrella Movement" protests of 2014 that failed to win any concessions from Beijing.

Wong has previously been jailed for involvement in those protests.

Solomons FM to visit Taiwan as China diplomatic battle heats up

Yahoo – AFP, September 7, 2019

Solomon Islands President Manasseh Sogavare (R) and Taiwan's President Tsai
Ing-wen (L) inspect an honour guard during a welcome ceremony in Taipei on
September 26, 2017 (AFP Photo/SAM YEH)

The Solomon Islands' top diplomat is set to arrive in Taiwan on Sunday, Taipei's foreign ministry said, as the Pacific nation mulls switching its diplomatic allegiance to China.

In a statement on Saturday, Taipei said Solomons foreign minister Jeremiah Manele will meet Taiwan's Pesident Tsai Ing-wen and his Taiwanese counterpart Joseph Wu during a five-day visit.

The Solomons are among only 17 nations to recognise Taiwan, but Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare vowed to review the relationship after he was elected in April.

A switch would reduce the number of nations backing Taiwan as well as boost China's influence among the strategically important Pacific islands.

Taiwan is a democratic self-ruled island but Beijing regards it as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

For the Solomons, where less than half the population has access to electricity, the debate offers a chance to weigh up promises of aid from Taipei and Beijing.

Government frontbencher Peter Shanel Agovaka, who led a recent ministerial delegation to Beijing to discuss the issue, told a parliamentary committee this week that his preference was to recognise China.

"We cannot sit for the next 40 years with our friends Taiwan. It is time that we make new friends," he said, arguing links with China would help boost the Pacific nation's economy.

The Solomon Islands' foreign affairs department has said no decision had been made and the issue would not be finalised until the cabinet had reviewed a task force report.

The Solomons' parliamentary foreign relations committee is accepting submissions on the Taiwan-China issue until the end of this month and has an October 31 deadline to report to the legislature.

Nations including Australia and the United States fear Beijing's interest is fuelled by a long-term goal to establish a military base in the islands, offering control of vast areas of the Pacific Ocean.

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper last month accused China of destabilising the region using such tactics, citing "predatory economics and debt-for-sovereignty deals".

However, China's ambassador to Samoa Chao Xiaoliang has labelled critics "ignorant" and "prejudiced", saying Beijing's main interest is forming partnerships to help Pacific nations.

Relations between Beijing and Taipei have plummeted since Tsai came to power in 2016 because her party refuses to recognise the idea that Taiwan is part of "one China".

North Korean defector mothers struggle in South

Channelnewsasia – AFP, 4 Sep 2019

North Korean defector Lim is one of hundreds of North Korean single mothers
in the South, struggling to make ends meet (Photo: AFP/Jung Yeon-je)

SEOUL: When Lim reached South Korea, she thought she had left behind the miseries of poverty and an unwanted marriage for a better life with her daughter.

She is one of more than 33,000 North Koreans - the vast majority of them women - who have fled to the South from hardship and repression in their homeland, where the Kim dynasty has ruled with an iron fist for three generations and stands accused of widespread human rights abuses.

The transition to a radically different, democratic and capitalist society - while juggling work, school and motherhood - is not easy. "Life in South Korea was the complete opposite of what I had expected," Lim said.

Nine years after arriving she still struggles to make ends meet, one of hundreds of North Korean single mothers in similar situations.

Their plight was highlighted by the case of Han Sung-ok, who had difficulties keeping jobs while caring for her epileptic six-year-old son. Their bodies were found in a Seoul flat two months after they are believed to have died from starvation.

The death of North Korean defector Han Sung-ok and her six-year-old son
sent shockwaves across South Korea (Photo; AFP/Jung Yeon-je)

News of the deaths sent shockwaves across the country last month and triggered an unprecedented campaign by the defector community urging Seoul to overhaul its aid programme for North Korean refugees.

"Han fled North Korea, where scores of people die from starvation, only to starve to death in South Korea," said campaigner Heo Kwang-il.

'VICIOUS CYCLE'

The vast majority of North Korean migrants go first to neighbouring China before making their way to the South.

As the oldest daughter, Lim - who asked to be identified by her surname only - left home at 24 to provide for her family but like many others was trafficked and sold to an abusive Chinese man, with whom she had a child.

After four years of what she described as "imprisonment", Lim ran away with her toddler daughter to Seoul.

At first, she took odd jobs but with no one to help look after her daughter, Lim was forced at one point to put her into care and contemplated suicide, tormented by the guilt of not being able to provide fully for her child or her family in the North.

At times she doubted her decision. "Sometimes, I wanted to go back to North Korea," she told AFP in her tiny flat.

Nowadays, she works as a waitress and is sometimes able to send money to her family in the North via intermediaries, and has no regrets - but it has taken time.

Life in South Korea is riddled with cultural and economic challenges for all new arrivals from its neighbour - the two have been divided since the Korean War fighting stopped in 1953. But single mothers face further complications without a family support network.

"When they have to take care of a child, they end up seeking part-time, unstable jobs," said Kim Sung-kyung, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.

"This starts a vicious cycle that holds them back from adjusting financially or finding stability."

'KOREAN DREAM'

The South Korean government provides newly arrived defectors a lump sum of around 8 million won (US$6,600) to help them settle.

They can seek additional aid but some give up, saying the system is too complex - especially if their education in the North has left them with limited literacy.

The transition to South Korea's radically different, democratic and capitalist society
is not easy for North Korean defectors, especially single mothers (Photo: AFP/
Jung Yeon-je)

Media reports say Han had sought help but was turned back by a district official who demanded legal papers to prove her status, which she could not provide.

"People come to the democratic South with the 'Korean Dream'" but many end up suffering from depression and other illnesses, said Lee Na-kyung, a defector activist for single parents and people with disabilities from the North.

Lee arrived with her husband - who has a disability - and their son in 2006 but was soon homeless after spending all their money on medical treatment.

She calls herself a "rare success story", saying her aggressive personality helped her settle in her new home, where she first worked as a gas meter reader and later became a humanities instructor.

The state has a pervasive role in North Korean society, where authorities impose extensive controls over individuals' lives, in marked contrast to the more individualistic South.

Many single mothers who come to the South "have no one to talk to and they feel cut off from the world", Lee said.

"They say even if they were poor in the North, they never felt isolated."