By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Canada granted 66 North Korean defectors refugee status in 2009, which is almost 10 times higher than in 2008, a report said Saturday.
Radio Free Asia, quoting a report from the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, said that more North Koreans are expected to receive the status as there are 59 defectors currently under review.
The North American country's first case of granting refugee status to a North Korean was in 2000. In 2008, there were seven more cases.
Human Rights activist Lee Kyeong-bok was quoted as saying that a range of activities by human rights organizations in Canada appeared to affect politicians, scholars and citizens there.
Those groups helped premiere the Korean movie "The Crossing," which depicts the hard life of North Korean defectors, in 2008 and distributed DVDs on human rights violations in North Korea a year ago.
According to the radio, a total of 93 North Koreans had also settled down in the United States as of last December.
ksy@koreatimes.co.kr
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