08/27/2004

The security situation for North Koreans in China has deteriorated. They face a heightened risk of deportation and subsequent imprisonment in their home country. In interviews within the past three months with Refugees International, North Koreans said they believed that Chinese government crackdowns had become more frequent recently, and most of the people RI interviewed said they either knew or knew of North Koreans who had been deported in recent weeks. The trend of increased deportations had begun even before the secret July 27-28 airlift of 468 North Korea asylum seekers from Vietnam to South Korea, which is expected to result in even greater tightening of the flow across the border by the Chinese and further pressure on the networks supporting North Korean asylum seekers, since the underground railroad that facilitated the movement of the North Koreans into Vietnam originates in China.

RI was able to interview 30 North Koreans, mostly from North Hamkyeong Province. We spoke to a range of North Koreans: women who were trafficked into China to marry Chinese men, women and men who crossed into China with their families and who are now separated, unaccompanied children, and men who had crossed temporarily in order to sell goods in China and who were planning to rejoin their families in North Korea. Seven of the people we interviewed had been deported at least once, and one person had been deported five times. Three people who themselves had avoided deportation had immediate family members who had been deported.

The greatest desire of these North Koreans is to be able to lead a safe, normal life in China, but realizing this hope is impossible. For fear of being deported, North Koreans live as virtual prisoners, afraid to move in public and unable to work or attend school. For turning in North Korean asylum seekers, Chinese authorities offer a reward, amounting to roughly $16, a large sum to most Chinese in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture that borders North Korea. Further, anti-North Korean sentiment is growing among the local Korean-Chinese population. In the past, most Korean-Chinese were sympathetic to the plight of their North Korean neighbors or relatives and would provide assistance to them. In recent years, North Koreans have contributed to rising crime rates in China, and it is becoming less common for Korean-Chinese to assist them.

Most North Koreans cross into China to survive. As a North Korean women explained, “We came here because we were hungry.” Recent arrivals gave grim descriptions of their lives in the North. Prices of basic commodities have increased, and wages have not kept pace with inflation. RI was told that in many cases wages are not being paid, so people are surviving on whatever food they are able to forage. It is fairly common for people to subsist on soup made from rice husks or cornmeal and wild greens.

The 2002 economic reforms have resulted in the greater availability of goods in North Korea, but few North Koreans from the far north of the country have the cash to purchase them. Recent arrivals from urban areas described markets full of food and consumer goods, including electronics and clothing, but as a young man explained, “If you have money, you can buy these things. The people who have been to China can buy these products because they have money. It is hard for people to even survive if they have not been to China. So I think to myself ‘I need to go to China.’”

China considers North Koreans to be illegal economic migrants, and indeed few North Koreans arrive in China having fled direct political persecution. Upon arrest and deportation, however, they are subject to interrogation and imprisonment in labor training centers for up to six months, and are subject to a variety of human rights abuses. Asylum seekers caught meeting with South Koreans or in possession of religious materials receive much harsher sentences. Thus, even though the original motivation to cross the border may be for survival, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) consider all North Koreans in China to be “persons of concern,” precisely because they face persecution and imprisonment upon deportation.

North Koreans who had recently returned to China after being deported and imprisoned spoke of interrogation and labor centers full of defectors. In one case a North Korean reported that the interrogation center where he was imprisoned was so full that there was no space for people to sleep.

The recent arrival of 468 North Koreans into South Korea has caused a regional backlash which complicates efforts to provide protection for North Koreans in China and Southeast Asia. Succumbing to pressure from the Chinese and North Korean governments, Vietnam has allegedly deported roughly 100 North Koreans to China where they will be summarily sent back to North Korea. They probably will be subjected to extraordinarily harsh treatment given that South Korea was their final destination. Initial official statements by the South Korean government suggest that it may bow to pressure from North Korean and China. The government has apologized to North Korea for accepting the refugees and press reports indicate that the government is now contemplating discontinuing it program to resettle North Koreans. This change of policy would be a serious blow to the cause of refugee protection in the region.

Refugees International, therefore, recommends that:

• The Government of China immediately halt all deportations of North Koreans seeking to live peacefully in China.
• The Government of China allow UNHCR unimpeded access to all North Koreans in China, including the 100 North Koreans deported from Vietnam.
• The Government of South Korea take diplomatic steps to convince Southeast Asian countries to cease deportations of North Koreans to China and continue to open their door to North Koreans destined for South Korea.
• The Government of South Korea exert pressure on China to moderate its policy of summarily deporting North Koreans to their home country, particularly in the case of the 100 who were deported from Vietnam.
• The United States, South Korean, Japan, and members states of the European Union continue to raise the issue of protection for North Koreans in China in all discussions with Chinese authorities.