A/HRC/13/47 have become more stringent, influenced by various momentous events linked with national security. 42. Precisely because it is now more difficult to leave the country of origin and to access neighbouring areas for asylum, the exodus of nationals from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has declined (at least momentarily). For instance, at the time of the Special Rapporteur’s visit to Mongolia in 2009 described below, there were no arrivals of asylum-seekers in the country, as compared with a couple of hundred in 2008. The pattern is similar in South-East Asia. As compared with larger numbers in the year before (nearly 2,000), one country reported a couple of hundred being detained in 2009, pending other solutions (although the figures went up slightly at the end of 2009). 43. More severe sanctions are now being implemented against those trying to leave without an exit visa and/or those who are forced to return from abroad. Collective punishment is also used against their families as a deterrent measure. 44. The status of people seeking asylum was discussed extensively by the Special Rapporteur in earlier reports. Whatever the characterization of persons who seek asylum, the Special Rapporteur underlines the need for humane treatment. They should not be kept in detention and they should have access to the basics of life, such as access to education, health care and protection from violence. The tendency of some countries to classify asylum-seekers as “illegal immigrants” should be modulated by a more flexible approach, whereby they are treated as humanitarian cases, without negative labelling, and access to international protection and assistance should be ensured. In 2009, one positive example in a nearby country was the granting of temporary resident status to a woman from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea who had a relationship with a local man, with children from the relationship. There are also activities to register children born with links to the country in question. 45. The Special Rapporteur notes another area deserving more analysis in future: migrant workers who work in other countries. The country in question is not a member of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and has kept a distance from the array of labour-related conventions which exist today. E. Specific groups 46. Throughout the six years of work, the Special Rapporteur has emphasized consistently the plight of key groups, such as women, children, persons with disabilities and the elderly, especially where they do not belong to the ruling elite. There has been a range of malpractices affecting their welfare which need to be rectified by the authorities. 47. Despite guarantees of gender equality in the Constitution, there are various discrepancies disadvantaging women in the country. First, their participation in earning a livelihood has been constrained by various peculiar measures imposed by the authorities as part of the clampdown on the market system. These include the prohibition of women under a certain age (49) from trading; the stricture that women are not allowed to wear trousers or ride bicycles; the injunction against colourful hair. The stricture against wearing trousers has now been lifted to some extent. In the army, women are supposed to bandage their breasts under their military uniforms to flatten them to avoid the image of sensuality.23 Such is the social engineering impeding the realization of women’s rights. 23 12 Citizen’s Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR), “Flowers, guns and women on bikes”, NKHR Briefing Report No. 4, Seoul, 2009, p. 16. GE.10-10793