Kim knows well that feeling of being constantly on the run from the six years his family spent in China, with her mother, a nurse in North Korea, working illegally as a seamstress to support him and his grandmother. вЂњThatвЂ™s what will make the difference in meeting the individual needs of these refugee families where theyвЂ™re not just thrown into a system that they donвЂ™t understand and have to just survive it, which they do for most of their lives without legal status and having to fend for themselves.вЂќ вЂњItвЂ™ll be the community that at the very start, will be helping them, from greeting them at the airport to finding the nearest primary school or secondary school for their children,вЂќ said Chung. The program is set to open for applications in February. It will also train and provide support to sponsorship groups during the sponsorship period.

The organization will be responsible for the selection and authorization of community cosponsors, as well as pre-screening and submitting sponsorship applications. In exceptional circumstances, the period may be extended to a maximum of 36 months. HanVoice and the community need to raise $250,000 to cover the costs to resettle five families and support them over a 12-month-period starting from their arrival or until they become self-sufficient, whichever comes first. We hope this can be the spark that opens new doors around the world for North Korean refugees.вЂќД¬anada will join both the United States and South Korea as the only countries that resettle North Korean escapees but the first to allow private citizens to do so, Kim noted. вЂњNorth Koreans who have managed to flee their country have very few options of settling safely without risk of detention or repatriation. вЂњThis is a very special moment and milestone for the Korean community here to step up and show that this is a priority for them,вЂќ he told the Star. It focuses on resettling North Korean women and their children - the most vulnerable cohort - who currently make up 80 per cent of refugees and are at significant risk of sexual and gender-based violence, said HanVoice executive director Sean Chung.

Spearheaded by HanVoice, an advocacy group for human rights in North Korea, the joint initiative with the federal immigration department is the fruit of eight years of political lobbying with the successive Conservative and Liberal governments.

Understanding the lived experience of a refugee, the Toronto man is thrilled a new Canadian pilot program announced on Tuesday will allow North Korean escapees to safely resettle in Canada as permanent residents through community sponsorships. вЂњIt was difficult when you had to constantly worry about your immigration status. вЂњSorry, IвЂ™m just getting a little bit emotional,вЂќ paused Kim, now a third-year York University student, studying psychology. The journey was tortuous and it was only in April that Kim, after 14 years in Canada, was finally granted permanent residence here on humanitarian and compassionate ground. She was kicked and punched with gun handles,вЂќ Kim, now 27, recalled of the treatment they received as вЂњtraitorsвЂќ at the hands of the North Korean guards.Д«ut that did not stop them from their search for freedom and they would make another run to China, and then to South Korea and Canada for that elusive permanent home. And my mom had to endure severe punishment and torture. Once, while living illegally in Yanji city in ChinaвЂ™s Jilin province, they were caught and deported back to Pyongyang, where his mother was jailed, tortured and later sent to a labour camp. Sam Kim fled North Korea at the age of six with his mother and grandmother, and spent years looking for refuge in China and South Korea before ending up in Canada in 2007.

North korea