|
 The vaccines could be a way to persuade the country to ease
lockdowns that have left some of its 26 million people on the verge
of starvation, Tomas Ojea Quintana, U.N. special rapporteur on human
rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, told a briefing
in Seoul.
"It is imperative that the population of North Korea start to be
vaccinated... so that the government will have no excuse to maintain
the closing of the borders," he said.
North Korea is not known to have imported any COVID-19 vaccines, and
the COVAX global COVID-19 vaccine-sharing programme has scaled back
the number of doses allocated for the country.
Last year North Korea rejected planned shipments of AstraZeneca's
COVID-19 vaccine that were being organised under COVAX due to
concerns over side effects, a South Korean think-tank said at the
time.
Pyongyang also turned down an offer of 3 million COVID-19 vaccine
doses of China's Sinovac Biotech, UNICEF said last year.
Authorities in Pyongyang appeared to be suspicious of receiving just
a partial amount of vaccines and then to be under pressure to accept
more, something that could be resolved by reaching a deal to provide
enough doses for the whole country, Ojea Quintana said.
The U.N. investigator said he had raised the prospect of providing
60 million vaccines to North Korea during meetings with
international diplomats in Seoul, but that such a proposal had yet
to be formally made to Pyongyang and a number of issues would need
to be worked out, including payments and any sanctions hurdles.
[to top of second column] |
 North Korea has not reported any COVID-19 cases
and has imposed strict anti-virus measures,
including border closures and domestic travel
curbs. For the first time since early 2020, it
began allowing a few trains to cross the border
from China last month.
"The most serious situation in North Korea is food," Ojea
Quintana said, adding that some of the most vulnerable populations
appear at risk of starvation.
Even if North Korea's government sees a legitimate public health
reason for maintaining the restrictions, it has an obligation to
balance that with people's need for food, which is linked to their
freedom of movement, he said.
The border and movement restrictions have been particularly damaging
for North Koreans relying on commercial activities along the border
with China, and that has been compounded by the impact of sanctions,
Ojea Quintana added.
He repeated calls for sanctions on North Korea to be more flexible,
to avoid causing humanitarian harm to ordinary residents.
(Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
