Bad Borders

Bad Borders

2013, Society  -   38 Comments
8.58
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Ratings: 8.58/10 from 78 users.

North Korea is one of the most totalitarian countries on Earth. Its people suffer from political despotism, severe underdevelopment and starvation so it's not surprising that every year thousands of people try to defect the country. Now, escaping is difficult enough, but arriving to a secure place, as the documentary shows, is even more arduous.

To desert North Korea, you can't just jump over the fence into South Korea. That is, except if you're eager to cross fields of landmines, predators, and North Korean military with pretty loose rules of engagement. So most of the renegades head for China, but they're not quite welcoming. The Chinese authorities deny giving North Koreans exile status, partly because they see North Korea as a safeguard between them and the "capitalist" South Korea.

So if a North Korean is detained in China, they get deported back where they came from. Those who manage to slip through the net have to entrust themselves to an organization of human traffickers and dealers to lead them out of the country.

In this documentary, VICE also went to Kashmir to see just how dangerous the conflict between India and Pakistan is getting. Some say, it is the most risky border on the planet. India and Pakistan really don't like each other. Now, this hatred begun when Mahatma Gandhi eventually triumphed in gaining independence from Great Britain.

And in the following anarchy, while they were trying to build a new State, India's Muslims demanded to establish their own country. As a result, millions of Hindus and Sikhs escaped to India, and at the same time, millions of India's Muslims migrated to the just established Pakistan.

Now, while this partition was taking place, tens of millions of people were displaced. And, meanwhile, over a million people on both sides were brutally killed in one big religious rampage. India and Pakistan have been hostile ever since. The focus of this chronic conflict is Kashmir, a mostly Muslim area that is somewhat occupied by India.

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john
john
11 months ago

yes another vide not available in the UK. Why does this keep happening?

j smith
j smith
6 years ago

Yet another video blocked in the Netherlands..Must be 50% of the videos now on this site.

Marco LaGrot
Marco LaGrot
9 years ago

India and Pakistan will hopefully invest in resolving attitudes of indifference and intollerance towards each other !! The victim of resentments is the one carrying them,bridge the gap firstly by finding similarities, then diolugue!! No nation on this planet ought to experience their citizens die in horrific agony due to nuclear war,most would die immediately others would suffer beyond anyone's imagination with skin hanging off their bodies.Please cease the insanity and the hate,both nations have a wonderful culture to share with the World.Please think first rather than before it's to late,give the World the gift of peace.

Stuart Aitken
Stuart Aitken
9 years ago

Kashmir bit was very interesting but the first part about North Korea seemed more like a clueless uncultured hipster tagging along with some escapees just for fun, without actually teaching us anything about the politics, history etc (unlike the Kashmir section which was quite cool, although the M.A.D hints at the end are a bit OTT I reckon)

Horst Manure
Horst Manure
9 years ago

Until ALL religions are stopped/banned there will never be peace..sadly this will never happen because we are all to stupid and dumb.

windship
windship
9 years ago

We are definitely the craziest species on Earth. Ultimately, it's the population time bomb that will trigger nuclear bombs in south Asia. Peak humanity may soon be in the rear view mirror.

socratesuk
socratesuk
9 years ago

Why cant we all just get along? Also I think its a bit silly to say the Chinese view North Korea as a buffer zone. (China itself is just as capitalist as the USA) *If anything a slighter smarter version of capitalist. As the Chinese are very careful to protect certain industries and have already invested heavily in parts of Africa and Iraq, to secure future energy resources. Also lets not forget North Korea also has a special economic zone with South Korea.

ChairmanDrew
ChairmanDrew
9 years ago

I had to turn it off when they brought up the graphic informing you that during the cold war Central America belonged to the USSR.

jaberwokky
jaberwokky
9 years ago

I had no idea tensions were so critical between Pakistan and India. Pakistan really got caught between a rock and a hard place with the Americans after 911 but I can't say I have any sympathy for an entity that is a 'Jihadi State' in all but name.

Sh*tty 'Vice' theatrics aside this was an informative watch.

bringmeredwine
bringmeredwine
9 years ago

Wow, lots was packed into this 30 minute doc.
The first part, about the North Koreans trying to reach South Korea was terribly sad, but heart-warming at the same time, because we meet a wonderful Pastor who helps these people.
The second part, where the host takes us to Kashmir, was quite unsettling but exciting.
Thank you for posting this.

dmxi
dmxi
9 years ago

i do not like the slackish usage of the(mis-leading!) term 'anarchy' in the pre-face to this documentary (see:language as a weapon) but the documentary here addresses the final frontier of the cold war which most have believed ended with the demise of the 'UDSSR'....:"we were fooled but we're not foolish enough to accept the fool's new planned regime of foolishness!"