VII. North Korean Refugees in China

FINDINGS

• The Chinese government forcibly repatriates North Koreans seeking refuge in China from starvation and political persecution in North Korea, contravening its obligations under the 1951 Convention Related to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. A compelling case exists for recognizing North Koreans in China as refugees: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea government regularly denies food to particular groups for political reasons, and refugees returned to North Korea face long prison terms, torture, or execution.
• The Chinese government classifies all North Koreans in China "illegal economic migrants" and denies the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees access to this vulnerable population. Living conditions for North Koreans in China are harsh, with women and children particularly vulnerable to trafficking and prostitution.

Conditions within China remain bleak for North Koreans fleeing starvation and political persecution in their homeland. Women and children are vulnerable to trafficking and prostitution. More than 75 percent of North Korean immigrants are women, and they are often forced into prostitution or other exploitative relationships by professional brokers.¹Children have no access to schools and often survive by begging on the streets. Some refugees have survived for years living in caves in the harsh northern climate.² Others move from one hiding place to another to avoid detection by public security forces or by Chinese citizens who receive government rewards for informing police of refugees' locations.³ Conditions in detention centers for those awaiting repatriation are cramped, and detainees face mistreatment from guards.⁴

Despite the harsh conditions within China, North Koreans take immense risks to avoid being returned to the DPRK. In April 2004, 80 North Korean detainees in Tumen Detention Center rioted to avoid being sent back to the DPRK. In another prison camp, 110 detainees went on a hunger strike to protest their impending refoulement.⁵

The Chinese government refuses entry to representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) into northeast China to screen North Koreans seeking protection. This policy contravenes a 1995 UN-Chinese Agreement stating that "UNHCR personnel may at all times have unimpeded access to refugees and to the sites of UNHCR projects in order to monitor all phases of their implementation."⁶ Chinese security forces guard the UNHCR office in Beijing,⁷ and a number of foreign consulates, chiefly to repel North Koreans wishing to present refugee petitions or seeking asylum. The Chinese government classifies all North Koreans in China as "illegal economic migrants" and not refugees.⁸ The Chinese government claims it must return these "illegal migrants" to North Korea under a 1961 agreement with the DPRK.⁹

A number of Western analysts note that the North Korean government regularly denies food to particular groups or regions for political reasons, a practice which may make those fleeing to China in search of food and other "economic goods" potential refugees under international law.¹⁰ As the High Commissioner for Refugees noted in 2003, "An analysis of currently available information recently carried out by our Department of International Protection concludes that many North Koreans may well be considered refugees."¹¹ Moreover, those who flee to China may have a claim to refugee status because they are considered "traitors" for defecting and face persecution upon their return to North Korea.¹² The State Department estimates that between 10,000–30,000 North Korean refugees are currently hiding in northeastern China. Several nongovernmental groups estimate the number of refugees to be between 100,000–300,000.¹³

The Chinese government forcibly repatriates North Koreans to the DPRK where they face long prison sentences, torture, and possible execution. The State Department estimates that Chinese security forces detained and forcibly returned several thousand North Koreans to the DPRK in 2004.¹⁴ A South Korean newspaper has reported that North Korean agents regularly enter Chinese territory and kidnap, with the tacit support of Chinese public security officials, South Korean activists assisting North Korean asylum seekers.¹⁵ The North Korean Penal Code criminalizes defection. Article 47 of the Penal Code states that "one who escapes to another country or to the enemy is in betrayal of his motherland and people" and will receive a minimum punishment of seven years labor re-education, while serious violators will be executed.¹⁶ Video tapes smuggled out of North Korea in the winter of 2004–2005 show public executions of repatriated "human smugglers," a crime that one international NGO notes the DPRK government commonly applies to those who help North Koreans flee the country.¹⁷

China's refoulement of North Koreans contravenes its obligations under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. The Convention and its Protocol state that "no Contracting States shall expel or return ('refouler') a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion."¹⁸

The Chinese government apparently believes that a more relaxed policy might result in more North Koreans fleeing into an area of China with high unemployment rates. "If we grant political asylum to one refugee today," one official reflected, "there could be thousands or millions of North Koreans who might seize the opportunity and pour into China."¹⁹ The Chinese government has increased its monitoring of North Koreans, in part because some refugees have turned to crime to survive in China.²⁰ The government apparently intensified surveillance and detentions of North Korean refugees following high profile asylum cases,²¹ such as in March 2005 when eight North Koreans rushed into a Japanese school in Beijing and were escorted to the Japanese Embassy.²² In January, Chinese security forces disbanded a press conference on the refugee issue called by four South Korean legislators visiting Beijing.²³

The Chinese government offers rewards to citizens who turn in "illegal migrants" and imprisons or imposes fines up to RMB 30,000 (USD $3,600) on those assisting them.²⁴ In December 2003, South Korean Reverend Choi Bong-il was sentenced to nine years imprisonment for assisting North Koreans transit to a third country. In May 2003, South Korean citizen Choi Yong-hun was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in assisting North Koreans flee through China to South Korea.²⁵ Chinese authorities detained American citizen Phillip J. Buck on May 9, 2005 for assisting North Korean refugees in China. He is currently detained in the Yanji PSB Detention Center, though no formal charges have been made public.²⁶

Notes to Section VII—North Korean Refugees in China

1 James Seymour, "China: Background Paper on the Situation of North Koreans in China," commissioned by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Protection Information Section, January 2005, 17; Edward Cody, "N. Koreans Fleeing Hard Lives Discover New Misery in China," Washington Post (Online), 7 March 05.

2 Shin Joo Hyun, "Underground Burrow, a Refuge of North Korean Defectors—7 Years of Living Like Moles," The Daily NK, 3 June 05 (FBIS, 3 June 05); "North Koreans Spent Years in Chinese Mountain Dugouts," Radio Free Asia (Online), 14 July 05.

3 Incite Productions, "Seoul Train," documentary produced by Jim Butterworth and Lisa Sleeth, November 2004; The Plight of North Korean Migrants in China: A Current Assessment, Staff Roundtable of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, 18 April 04, Testimony of Joel Charny, Vice President for Policy, Refugees International.

4 James Seymour, "China: Background Paper on the Situation of North Koreans in China," 18.

5 "Hunger Strike Spreading Among Detained North Korean Refugees: Reports Indicate New Spirit of Protest," Life Funds for North Korean Refugees Web site, 25 March 04.

6 Article III(5) United Nations (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and China, Agreement on the Upgrading of the UNHCR Mission in the People's Republic of China to UNHCR Office in the People's Republic of China, UNTS Vol. 1898/1899, I–3237, 11 December 95, 61–71.

7 Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, U.S. Department of State, "The Status of North Korean Asylum Seekers and the U.S. Government Policy Towards Them," 11 March 05.

8 Reiterated by a Foreign Ministry spokesman in June: "Illegal DPRK immigrants not refugees: Chinese FM Spokesman," Xinhua (Online), 29 June 05.

9 Democratic People's Republic of Korea Ministry of State Security and the People's Republic of China Ministry of Public Security, Mutual Cooperation Protocol for the Work of Maintaining National Security and Social Order in the Border Areas, 1961.

10 James Seymour, "China: Background Paper on the Situation of North Koreans in China,"10; Joel R. Charny, "Acts of Betrayal: The Challenge of Protecting North Koreans in China," Refugees International, April 2005.

11 "Interview with High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers," Asahi Shimbun, 4 August 03.

12 James Seymour, "China: Background Paper on the Situation of North Koreans in China,"10.

13 Figure cited in Joel R. Charny, "Acts of Betrayal: The Challenge of Protecting North Koreans in China," 5. International Refugees notes these figures are "problematic" given the lack of publicly available data and the fact that many North Koreans in China move back and forth across the border seeking temporary employment rather than political asylum.

14 Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, Country Report on Human Rights Practices—2004, China, including Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau, 28 February 05.

15 "Beijing Turns Blind Eye to N. Korean Kidnappings," Chosun (Online), 19 January 05.

16 U.S. Department of State, "The Status of North Korean Asylum Seekers and the U.S. Government Policy Towards Them." North Korea has recently begun to distinguish between returned migrants who sought political refugee status in China and those who simply crossed the border in search of food or jobs. Treatment of the latter has reportedly improved in recent years, though anyone illegally crossing the border is still subject to two years of "labor correction."

17 Joel Charny, remarks at Refugees International and the Center for Strategic and International Studies Briefing, 12 May 05.

18 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 28 July 51 by the United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons convened under General Assembly resolution 429 (V) of 14 December 50, art. 33.

19 K. Platt, "N Korea Gets China's Cooperation on Refugee Returns," Christian Science Monitor (Online), 9 June 00.

20 Joel R. Charny, "Acts of Betrayal: The Challenge of Protecting North Koreans in China."

21 Joel Charny, remarks at Refugees International and the Center for Strategic and International Studies Briefing.

22 "8 Suspected N. Korean Asylum Seekers Enter Japanese School in Beijing," Voice of America (Online), 9 March 05. These incidents occur on a regular basis. On October 15, 2004, 20 North Koreans entered the South Korean consulate, just days after 44 people disguised as Chinese construction workers climbed homemade ladders and vaulted into the Canadian Embassy in Beijing. North Koreans rushed into a South Korean International School in Beijing on October 22 and again on December 15, leading Chinese authorities to temporarily close the school on December 17. James Seymour, "China: Background Paper on the Situation of North Koreans in China," 22; "ROK Daily: School Interruption at Korean School in Beijing, China," Tong-a Ilbo, 17 December 04 (FBIS, 17 December 04).

23 "8 Suspected N. Korean Asylum Seekers Enter Japanese School in Beijing," Voice of America (Online).

24 James Seymour, "China: Background Paper on the Situation of North Koreans in China," 14. Appendix F, "Parliamentary Delegation to North Korea (DPRK)" Co-funded by Jubilee Campaign and CSW, 13–18 September 2003.

25 The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled Choi's deprivation of liberty as arbitrary. UNWGAD, Opinion No. 20/2005 (People's Republic of China), 11 June 2004.

26 "Minister Held in Chinese Prison," North Korean Refugees Web site.