Title 22, Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-110

§7841 United States Policy Toward Refugees and Defectors

Title 22 › CHAPTER 85 — NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS › SUBCHAPTER III — PROTECTING NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES › § 7841

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of State must, within 120 days after October 18, 2004, send a report to Congress and to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees explaining the situation of North Korean refugees and U.S. policy for North Koreans outside North Korea. The report must assess refugees’ conditions in hiding (especially in China) and if returned, whether they can reach UNHCR and whether China meets its duties under the 1951 Refugee Convention (Articles 31, 32, 33), whether North Koreans can access U.S. refugee/asylum processing or U.S. embassies/consulates, the number admitted as refugees or asylees each of the past 5 years, an estimate of those with U.S. citizen relatives, and the steps the Secretary is taking to carry out section 7843. Items 1–5 must be unclassified; item 6 may be classified if needed.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §7841

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Report

Not later than 120 days after October 18, 2004, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report that describes the situation of North Korean refugees and explains United States Government policy toward North Korean nationals outside of North Korea.

(b)Contents

The report shall include—

(1)an assessment of the circumstances facing North Korean refugees and migrants in hiding, particularly in China, and of the circumstances they face if forcibly returned to North Korea;

(2)an assessment of whether North Koreans in China have effective access to personnel of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and of whether the Government of China is fulfilling its obligations under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, particularly Articles 31, 32, and 33 of such Convention;

(3)an assessment of whether North Koreans presently have unobstructed access to United States refugee and asylum processing, and of United States policy toward North Koreans who may present themselves at United States embassies or consulates and request protection as refugees or asylum seekers and resettlement in the United States;

(4)the total number of North Koreans who have been admitted into the United States as refugees or asylees in each of the past 5 years;

(5)an estimate of the number of North Koreans with family connections to United States citizens; and

(6)a description of the measures that the Secretary of State is taking to carry out section 7843 of this title.

(c)Form

The information required by paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (b) shall be provided in unclassified form. All or part of the information required by subsection (b)(6) may be provided in classified form, if necessary.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 7841

Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110