[quote](CNN) -- The nine young North Koreans thought they were near the end of their long and dangerous journey toward freedom.
Their years-long odyssey had taken them thousands of miles, from North Korea, one of the world's most repressive states, to Laos, a small, landlocked nation in Southeast Asia. From there, they just needed to cross the border into Thailand and find their way to South Korean diplomats who would be able to offer them citizenship and a new life.
But something went wrong in Laos. They were detained by the authorities. And rather than transferring the group of young refugees to South Korean officials, as the people engineering their escape were anticipating, the Laotian government this week did something unexpected.
It gave them back to North Korea.[/quote]
[url]http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/31/world/asia/laos-north-korea-refugees/index.html?hpt=wo_bn4[/url]
No, Laos.
No.
RIP everyone in their current families and the next three generations too
Could have just shot them in the head, same result only faster.
Laos is such a piece of shit.
Why is it that people keep insisting North Korea are the only monsters out there?
I sometimes get annoyed that they're shoved in the spotlight so much, as if other countries somehow have the sun shining out of their asses
[QUOTE=JgcxCub;40881241]Why is it that people keep insisting North Korea are the only monsters out there?[/QUOTE]
No one is, it turns out.
[QUOTE=JgcxCub;40881241]Why is it that people keep insisting North Korea are the only monsters out there?
I sometimes get annoyed that they're shoved in the spotlight so much, as if other countries somehow have the sun shining out of their asses[/QUOTE]
They don't? People react to news. The news tend to come from North Korea, in regards to these situations.
[QUOTE=JgcxCub;40881241]Why is it that people keep insisting North Korea are the only monsters out there?
I sometimes get annoyed that they're shoved in the spotlight so much, as if other countries somehow have the sun shining out of their asses[/QUOTE]
Have you seen any of the recent discussion surround Syria, Turkey, etc?
If there's a discussion about NK, then of course people are going to talk about NK within that discussion. There's no obligation for people to bring in other conflicts as though the discussion requires some balance on the scale of evil. There are heaps of other discussions about other travesties being committed by othe countries; look for them
Huh, that's rather cuntish of Laos.
I think Laos is being a bit blinded by the fact that they and North Korea constitute half the socialist states left in the world.
Where they are promptly executed, along with their families.
Congratulations Laos, you just murdered a bunch of people. Hope you're happy.
Why on earth would you ever do that
[QUOTE=Jmir 54;40881361]Why on earth would you ever do that[/QUOTE]
because they are so detached from the reality of the situation.
if those officials from laos had visited a north korean concentration camp, they would never dream of sending anyone back to that country. but they don't have to face that reality. all they did was talk to some officials from one country, and then some officials from another, and then that was it.
the same way that we can read about this and not have our week ruined. we know it's bad, technically, but to us these people are nothing more than words on a screen. we might feel empathy, because we have the capacity to imagine the situation, but that scarcely comes close to the state of emotions we would be feeling right now if we knew these people, and what they were [i]actually[/i] going through.
it's the same reason people don't give to charity. it's the same reason we pop jokes about 9/11 or the holocaust. anybody who were involved in either of those two events would never do that.
[QUOTE=JgcxCub;40881241]Why is it that people keep insisting North Korea are the only monsters out there?
I sometimes get annoyed that they're shoved in the spotlight so much, as if other countries somehow have the sun shining out of their asses[/QUOTE]
I have never during my whole time on this Earth, much less the forum, ever suggest North Korea is the only monster in the world.
It does get a lot of negative press, though it might have a lot to due with the fact it is literally the most repressive regime in existence right now.
[editline]2nd June 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=Chrille;40881531]because they are so detached from the reality of the situation.
if those officials from laos had visited a north korean concentration camp, they would never dream of sending anyone back to that country. but they don't have to face that reality. all they did was talk to some officials from one country, and then some officials from another, and then that was it.
the same way that we can read about this and not have our week ruined. we know it's bad, technically, but to us these people are nothing more than words on a screen. we might feel empathy, because we have the capacity to imagine the situation, but that scarcely comes close to the state of emotions we would be feeling right now if we knew these people, and what they were [I]actually[/I] going through.
it's the same reason people don't give to charity. it's the same reason we pop jokes about 9/11 or the holocaust. anybody who were involved in either of those two events would never do that.[/QUOTE]
Sending someone directly to their death should eliminate that feeling of being detached.
[QUOTE=BusterBluth;40881554]There a bit of a difference between me not feeling bad enough about this to ruin my weekend and sending a bunch of young adults and possible kids to their death.[/QUOTE]
it's the same principle, on a different scale.
[QUOTE=Chrille;40881615]it's the same principle, on a different scale.[/QUOTE]
It might be the same principle on a very basic level, but its hardly anywhere in the same ballpark.
[QUOTE=BusterBluth;40881554]Sending someone directly to their death should eliminate that feeling of being detached.[/QUOTE]
okay? it's not an inevitability that it does. i'm sure barack obama felt like shit the first time innocent people died because of something he decreed, but it becomes routine and he progressively becomes more detached from it. it's the same reason power and money corrupts. and it's not necessarily a feeling of detachment, it just [i]is[/i] detachment. the north korean refugees are paperwork to the officials from laos. that's it. i'm sure that those involved will get crushed by bad conscience in time though. they just need more time to think about it, to let it sink in what they have done.
of course there are always exceptions. some people genuinely don't care for others, and some people care extraordinarily much for others.
[QUOTE=JgcxCub;40881241]
I sometimes get annoyed that they're shoved in the spotlight so much, as if other countries somehow have the sun shining out of their asses[/QUOTE]
North Korea literally has half a million or even a million people living in slave labor/concentration camps. It doesn't even have to be like this. If the current regime fell food and supplies would be able to flood into the country pretty quickly but instead people are starving and still using oxen as a primary way to transport goods.
Goddammit, Laos!
[QUOTE=Chrille;40881747]okay? it's not an inevitability that it does. i'm sure barack obama felt like shit the first time innocent people died because of something he decreed, but it becomes routine and he progressively becomes more detached from it. it's the same reason power and money corrupts. and it's not necessarily a feeling of detachment, it just [i]is[/i] detachment. the north korean refugees are paperwork to the officials from laos. that's it. i'm sure that those involved will get crushed by bad conscience in time though. they just need more time to think about it, to let it sink in what they have done.
of course there are always exceptions. some people genuinely don't care for others, and some people care extraordinarily much for others.[/QUOTE]
I see what your original point was now. I'm not sure what I was trying to argue.
[QUOTE=JgcxCub;40881241]Why is it that people keep insisting North Korea are the only monsters out there?[/QUOTE]
They don't, North Korea just so happens to be one of the larger monsters.
This is... just awful.
[thumb]http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2013-06/76139007.jpg[/thumb]
these are the 9 kids
they seemed very happy, fuck Laos.
I bet they left claw marks on the floors and walls as they were dragged back into North Korea.
[QUOTE=Jmir 54;40881361]Why on earth would you ever do that[/QUOTE]
Either because they have no idea what's going on, or because they want to avoid getting flack from NK.
now i'm starting to think, that Laos are goddamn snitch communists
If the North Korean government doesn't kill them after they get back (which they will), tuberculosis will probably kill them, sadly.
North Korea doesn't normally execute child escapees.
Two escapees spoke on Australian television. One of them knew people who had been returned to NK and had been put in prison for several months before being returned to their homes.
Young lives cut short. I think about all the things they will never get to experience, and it hurts. It really does.
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