Margins of Empire: The Sakhalin Koreans’ Long Saga Home

• Main Author: Webster, Timothy
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Digital Commons @ Western New England University School of Law 2022
• Subjects: Sakhalin Koreans; Sakhalin Island; Russia; Soviet Union; Japan; South Korea; World War II; litigation; international human rights; Human Rights Law; International Humanitarian Law; International Law; Sakhalin
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.law.wne.edu/facschol/371; https://digitalcommons.law.wne.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1379&context=facschol

Migration carries with it many risks, from perilous journeys along risky corridors to hostile environments in one's adopted country. But what happens when migrants cannot return home? This Article examines the difficulties endured by Sakhalin Koreans, a group of ethnic Koreans who emigrated to Sakhalin Island during the Japanese colonial period and found themselves stranded in a foreign country (the Soviet Union) for the next half century. After recounting the migration of Koreans to Sakhalin, and analyzing lawsuits filed in Japan to repatriate them, it analyzes the infirmities of the international human rights system and the challenges of repatriating a group of people when multiple countries are involved.