Government News: Top Stories

N. Korea puts restrictions on aid workers
by Joe McDonald

The Associated Press Translate This Article
29 March 2005

BEIJING (AP) - North Korea has tightened restrictions on the movements of foreign aid workers, prompting warnings by donors of food and medicine that they might withhold some assistance, a Red Cross official said Tuesday.

The government has cut the number of visits that Red Cross officials are allowed to make to North Korean hospitals by 30 percent to 50 percent in recent months, said John Sparrow, a Beijing-based spokesman for the agency. The comments echo reports by other aid groups that they face new restrictions.

Sparrow did not know the reason for the restrictions, but he said it might stem from the secretive country's belief that widespread hunger is easing and its desire to shift the emphasis to economic development aid.

Donors have warned the Red Cross that if agencies are not given access to monitor how aid is used, ``it could have serious consequences to the effect that certain programs will no longer be funded,'' Sparrow said.

The Red Cross and North Korean officials have discussed the restrictions but have not reached an agreement, said Sparrow, who just returned from a one-week trip to the North.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies gives drugs and equipment to 2,300 North Korean hospitals and clinics, Sparrow said. With a 12-member foreign staff in the North, it also provides supplies and experts for water-treatment and disaster-relief programs.

The dictatorship of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has survived on foreign aid since the mid-1990s, when its economy collapsed following decades of mismanagement and the loss of Soviet subsidies.

The North's need for aid has forced it to ease its self-imposed isolation. But foreign groups have to apply for permission to visit areas receiving their aid and are barred from some regions. Most will not provide aid to areas where they are denied access.

The World Food Program and other aid agencies also say the North has imposed new restrictions on their movements.

WFP says it temporarily cut off aid to the North Korean province of Chagang late last year after its employees were barred from the area. The U.N. agency feeds some 6.5 million of North Korea's 24 million people.

The Red Cross faced similar restrictions in Chagang and suspended supplies until access was reopened, Sparrow said. The agency also helps hospitals in three other provinces and the major city of Kaesong.

``While there are no set requirements and limitations on a piece of paper that we can read, we have seen over the months that our ability to move around the country has been reduced,'' Sparrow said.

The Red Cross is asking donors for $11.3 million to provide supplies this year to hospitals and clinics serving 9 million North Koreans, Sparrow said.

The United States and other governments insist on monitoring the delivery of aid in part to see that it is not diverted to the military or ruling party.

``We are quite sure that what we have taken into the country has gone to the right place,'' Sparrow said.

North Korea told aid agencies in September that the humanitarian crisis was easing and asked them to provide teachers and other long-term development aid.

But Sparrow said millions of North Koreans still rely on foreign food and medicine.

``We would not agree that ... humanitarian aid is no longer necessary,'' he said. ``We would say it's absolutely vital to continue.''

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