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Liberty in North Korea, commonly known as LiNK, is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-ethnic and non-religious group formed to raise awareness of the situation of human rights in North Korea. Founded on March 27, 2004, at the Eighteenth Annual Korean American Students Conference (KASCON) held at Yale University, in New Haven, CT. It was created first to educate Korean-American students throughout the United States about the sufferings of the North Korean people and the political context in which they are situated. LiNK has since expanded and is no longer limited to Koreans, to the United States, or to college students. LiNK has organized numerous lectures, teach-ins, screenings, forums, conferences and seminars on the North Korean human rights situation.
Safe Haven Safe Haven was established by LiNK in November 2004 to shelter North Korean orphans in China. There are about ten thousand orphaned children in China, mostly because their parents either abandoned them in a desperate attempt to increase their chances for survival or were repatriated to North Korea. Because the Chinese government considers all North Korean refugees to be economic migrants, these orphans cannot obtain Chinese Citizenship. They do not have access to Chinese hospitals, schools, or shelter. Orphanages are established throughout China and are maintained by Chinese Koreans, South Koreans, or other North Korean refugees. Communication between these caretakers and LiNK are secretive, such that some caretakers do not even know anything about LiNK. The orphans range from toddlers to teenagers. They are cared for until they become independent. Because these children are constantly at risk of being captured by Chinese authorities, the children are isolated from the rest of the world. A majority of LiNK's fundraising efforts go to Safe Haven. The goal of Safe Haven is to take in as many orphans as possible with the funds it raises and ultimately to smuggle them out to a free country. Chapters LiNK currently has active chapters at the following colleges and universities: Note that the supplied link is to the Wikipedia entry on the school, not to the website of the actual school or its LiNK chapter, and that this list is not chronological, but alphabetical | ||||||||
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