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• The Chinese government forcibly repatriates North Korean refugees facing starvation and political and religious persecution in their homeland, contravening its obligations under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. Chinese authorities detained and returned to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) thousands of North Koreans in 2005. The government classifies all North Koreans who enter China without documents as illegal economic migrants and claims it must return them to the DPRK, even though North Korean defectors meet the definition of refugees under international law. Repatriated North Koreans face long prison sentences, torture, and execution.

• Without legal status, North Korean refugees in China are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. There are an estimated 20,000 to 50,000 North Koreans currently hiding in northeastern China, and some NGOs estimate that the number of refugees is much higher. The government refuses the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) access to North Korean refugees, and fines and imprisons humanitarian workers who assist North Koreans in China. Officials in Beijing met with UNHCR Antonio Guterres in March 2006 during the first UNHCR visit to China since 1997. In July 2006, the Chinese government for the first time allowed three North Korean refugees to travel directly from the U.S. Consulate in Shenyang, Liaoning province, to the United States to seek asylum.

The Chinese government forcibly repatriates North Korean refugees fleeing starvation and political and religious persecution in their homeland.¹ The U.S. State Department and NGO sources report that Chinese authorities detained and returned to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) thousands of North Koreans in 2005.² The government provides financial rewards to security officials who detain North Koreans and to citizens who reveal the locations of refugees.³

The government's repatriation of North Korean refugees contravenes its obligations under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention) and its 1967 Protocol. The 1951 Convention and its Protocol mandate that "no Contracting State 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."⁴ The government bases its policy of repatriating North Koreans on a 1961 treaty with the DPRK and a subsequent 1986 border protocol,⁵ but international law concerning refugees supersedes any such bilateral commitments.⁶

The government classifies all North Koreans who enter China without documents as illegal economic migrants and claims it must return them to the DPRK, even though North Korean defectors meet the definition of refugees under international law. In March, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson reiterated the government's position that undocumented North Koreans in China are "illegal migrants and not refugees."⁷ The 1951 Convention and its Protocol, however, define a refugee as someone who, "owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country."⁸ The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea also recognized in a 2005 report that North Koreans who have crossed the border into other countries for reasons of livelihood are refugees sur place, or those "who did not leave their country of origin for fear of persecution, but who fear persecution upon return."⁹

Repatriated North Koreans face long prison sentences, torture, and execution. Article 233 of the amended North Korean Penal Code states that any citizen "who crosses a frontier of the Republic without permission shall be committed to a detention labor facility for up to two years," and Article 62 says that any citizen "who defects to a foreign country or to the enemy in betrayal of the country and the people shall be committed to a reform institution for not less than five years. In cases where the person commits an extremely grave offense, he or she shall be given life imprisonment in a reform institution, the death penalty or have their property confiscated."¹⁰ According to international NGO sources, the "grave offenses" include leaving the DPRK multiple times,¹¹ meeting with foreigners, and returning to the DPRK with the intention of becoming Christian missionaries.¹² Testifying before a Commission hearing, an international humanitarian worker said that North Korean officials summarily executed one refugee's repatriated sister and son for converting to Christianity and interacting with Chinese Christians while in China.¹³ Conditions in North Korean labor camps and prisons are harsh, and defector testimonies "document cases of beatings, forced labor, degrading treatment, torture, and execution."¹⁴

Without legal status, North Korean refugees in China are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Jay Lefkowitz, U.S. Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea, estimates that at least 20,000 to 50,000 North Koreans currently are hiding in northeastern China.¹⁵ Some NGOs estimate that the number of refugees is much higher.¹⁶ Trafficking in North Korean women, who make up two-thirds of the refugees,¹⁷ is widespread,¹⁸ and the Chinese government has done little to combat the network of traffickers along the North Korean border.¹⁹ International NGOs estimate that traffickers intercept 70 to 80 percent of all North Korean women entering China.²⁰ Traffickers sell the majority of women into marriage and a smaller number into prostitution²¹ [see Section V(e)--Status of Women--Trafficking of Women and Girls]. Few North Korean children and children born in China from Chinese-Korean marriages have access to education,²² and traffickers have sold babies born to North Korean women in China.²³

Officials in Beijing met with Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in March 2006 during the first UNHCR visit to China since 1997. State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan told Guterres that "the Chinese government attaches great importance to the protection of refugees."²⁴ During Guterres' visit, an MFA spokesperson said that the Chinese government was "considering how to improve and perfect the . . . legal system" pertaining to refugees.²⁵ The State Council is considering new Regulations on the Administration of Refugees, according to its 2006 Legislative Plan.²⁶ Guterres said the UNHCR would be "fully engaged in supporting the Chinese authorities to make sure that this legislation is in full compliance with international law."²⁷

The government refuses the UNHCR access to North Korean refugees, and Chinese guards outside the UNHCR office in Beijing block access to North Korean and other refugees. This policy contravenes a 1995 agreement between the UN and the Chinese government which provides 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."²⁸ Chinese security forces that guard the UNHCR office²⁹ and foreign embassies³⁰ in Beijing drive away North Koreans who try to present refugee petitions or seek asylum. In a March 30 statement, the White House expressed "grave concern" over China's repatriation of refugee Kim Chun-hee and called upon the Chinese government "not to return North Korean asylum seekers without allowing UNHCR access to these vulnerable individuals."³¹ In July 2006, the Chinese government for the first time allowed three North Korean refugees to travel directly from the U.S. Consulate in Shenyang, Liaoning province, to the United States to seek asylum.³²

The government fines and imprisons international humanitarian workers who assist North Koreans in China. Chinese authorities sentenced South Korean citizen Choi Yong-hun to five years in prison and fined him 30,000 yuan (US$3,750) in May 2003 for assisting North Koreans in China.³³ Authorities in Yanji city in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture detained U.S. citizen Philip J. Buck in May 2005 for his role in assisting North Koreans in China to seek asylum in a third country.³⁴ In August 2006, authorities convicted Reverend Buck of human smuggling, and sentenced him to deportation and prohibition from returning to China.³⁵ A South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade report released in September 2005 said that, of the 64 South Koreans detained by Chinese authorities since 2001 for helping North Koreans in China, 15 are still in detention.³⁶ The government imposes fines of 1,000 yuan (US$125) on Chinese citizens who shelter North Korean refugees³⁷ and offers financial rewards to citizens who turn in those assisting North Koreans.³⁸