NORTH KOREANS STORM CANADIAN EMBASSY

North Korean Refugees Seek Asylum in Canadian Embassy
A total of 45 North Korean refugees tried to seek asylum in the Canadian Embassy in Beijing on Wednesday, with one person arrested by police and 44 others succeeding, paving the way for their deportation to South Korea. They climbed over the stone wall surrounding the embassy, using a steel ladder at around 2:45 p.m. (local time).

While I'm happy that people are still able to escape that horrible little country, this is actually very unfortunate.

It is nearly universally accepted among long-term Canadian expats and travelers that Canada has some of the worst consular services available from a Western country. They are typically unable to deal efficiently and politely with requests from the country's own citizens and they are generally bad at processing refugees.

The Koreans would have been better off storming the UK or US embassies. Though I'm sure the lax security of the Canadian facility made it an easier option.

I hope this turns out well for the Koreans, but I have reasons to be less than optimistic:

A businessman continually tried to get into the Canadian Embassy in order to join his wife already in Newfoundland. Chinese staff refused to let him in and he was later caught and jailed for three years by the Chinese government for having provided food money for the students at Tiananmen Square. There are more examples of denial of access to the Embassy by the local Chinese staff who rule who gets appointments and gets in. It is a known fact that treatment in the American and British visa posts is superior.