North Korean migrant 'slaves' in Russia. This is how Pyongyang tackles crisis.

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North Korean migrant 'slaves' in Russia. This is how Pyongyang tackles crisis. (AN).

North Korea has concluded an agreement with Russia to increase the number of migrant workers from the regime in the North to the Eurasian Country. Thanks to their work, Pyongyang receives a part of their wages, increasing foreign currency to improve its shaky economy. This happens despite the series of sanctions that the UN imposed on North Korea because of its nuclear program and missile tests.

The agreement was signed last March 17 in Pyongyang between Ri Kwang-gun, Vice-Minister for External Economic Relations, and Dmitri Demidenko, Russian representative of the Interior Ministry, emigration sector.

Under the agreement, North Korean migrants must have a good knowledge of the Russian language so a cooperation program was set up between the Institute for Foreign Studies University in Pyongyang, and the Pushkin Institute for Languages. Already in 2015 Russia began to demand that North Korean migrants study the Russian language and history, and be tested before being sent abroad.

At present there are about 30 thousand North Korean workers in Russia. Most are engaged in forestry, mining and construction.

The latest available figures show that North Korean workers are paid around $ 100 US per month. Of these, 70% is taken by Pyongyang as "loyalty payment" to the state.

The UN Commission on Human Rights has condemned this form of slavery of North Korean migrants.

The United Nations says there are at least 50 thousand North Koreans working abroad, mostly in China and Russia. But groups of them are also in Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Oman, Poland, Qatar and the UAE.


These workers earn $ 120-150 per month and are often forced to work up to 20 hours a day, with only one or two days off a month, and insufficient food. Of course, a portion of their wages is passed by direct debit to the North Korea government.

There are 6,500 slaves in Canada, nearly 46 million worldwide.

There are 6,500 slaves in Canada, nearly 46 million worldwide: charity. (GlobalNews).

Canada is among 12 nations with the lowest estimated prevalence of modern slavery, according to the Walk Free Foundation. The index put Canada’s population at 35,871,000 with an estimated 6,500 or 0.018 per cent people living in slavery.

The 2016 global slavery index, funded by Forrest’s Walk Free Foundation, says 45.8 million people are trapped in some form of slavery. The report ranks incidences of slavery in 167 countries, with India having the highest number of slaves while North Korea has the highest percentage of slaves per capita. This year’s estimates are nearly 30% higher than in the previous report, which estimated 35.8 million people living in slavery in 2014.

Forrest says the rise is partially due to more accurate methodology but he also believes the number of people trapped in slavery is increasing year on year.

“It is time to draw a line and say, no more,” he said. “This isn’t Aids or malaria, it is a man-made problem that can be solved, and it’s time to take real action to free the world from slavery once and for all.”

Walk Free said slavery is found in all 167 countries in the index, with India home to 18.4 million slaves. This year’s index also claims that over half of the 45.8 million people living in modern slavery are in five countries: India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan.

It calculated that more than 4% of North Korea’s population is enslaved, with Uzbekistan and Qatar the other countries with the highest prevalence of modern slavery per capita. Read the full story here.