Dear ****

Hello,

My name is ****, and I live in Vancouver, BC. I currently attend Lord Byng Secondary School, studying as a grade 11 student in various focus areas such as drama/theatre, sciences, and literature.

I have recently come across a news that opened my eyes to the cruel reality of the world that the 21st century has not been able to liberate from. This letter is regarding the nine North Korean refugees who had managed to escape out of North Korea, and arrived in the country of Laos on May 10th. A South Korean pastor and his wife, who guided the orphans through the extremely dangerous process of escaping the country, were arrested along with the orphans by the Laos police. The officials at Laos contacted the South and North Korean embassies, but before any action was taken by South Korea, North Korea sent government officials and took the refugees away. One can obviously assume that they were heading back to North Korea to be victims of internment, torture and/or even execution.

I am writing this letter to spread awareness, and to ask for your help and interest in ensuring the safety of the orphans, all of whom are my age. As a sixteen year old, this is my way of asking the Canadian Government for help, on behalf of the poor souls, that should have the chance to bloom to their full potential with their entire life ahead of them, but instead may end today or tomorrow, for the sole reason of seeking human rights.

I do not wish for lower college tuition, or more funding in education programs, just for everything you can do for the safety of these orphan children who have no more hope and nowhere to ask for assistance.

Even writing this letter, I am extremely apprehensive and am shuddering at the thought of the living conditions the orphans were in, that drove them to escape out of their only home country that they have ever known. As a Korean-Canadian, I have been raised hearing about the hard lives of people in North Korea. I promise you here that I will keep trying to be helpful for people in North Korea throughout my life.

Thank you so much for taking time to read this letter. I hope it circulates in the Government of Canada to reach more people like yourself who has the authority and the power to make a difference and save the lives of these orphans.

This is the link to the exact article for more information:

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/05/29/2013052901014.html

Sincerely,

****