China Forcibly Repatriates Large Number of North Korean Escapees

A North Korea woman soldier patrols the bank of the Yalu River which separates the North Korean town of Sinuiju from the Chinese border town of Dandong, northeast China's Liaoning province on April 26, 2014. STR/AFP via Getty Images

The Chinese regime has forcibly deported a large number of North Koreans, raising a concern that the returnees will face harsh punishment by the regime in Pyongyang, according to a human rights group.

The spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, Koo Byoung-sam, confirmed the repatriation on Oct. 13, saying, “It appears to be true that a large number of North Koreans were repatriated to North Korea from China’s three northeastern provinces.”

“[The South Korean] government’s position is that there should be no circumstances in which North Koreans living abroad would be forcibly repatriated back home against their will,” he added.

Mr. Koo said that South Korea had been unable to determine the number of people involved and whether there were defectors among them.

“The South Korean government regrets the situation and raised this matter with the Chinese side in a serious manner, emphasizing our position,” he said.

Human Rights Watch on Oct. 12 revealed that Chinese authorities forcibly repatriated over 500 North Koreans, mostly women. It called on governments to denounce the expulsion by Beijing.

The North Koreans were taken in vehicle convoys on Monday night over five separate border crossings into the North, the rights group said, citing a missionary with contacts in the North and China who works to help defectors.

A North Korean who defected to South Korea in 2001 said a cousin of his, who had lived in China for 25 years and had a daughter with a Chinese man, was believed to be among those deported this week.

The rights group added that Beijing deported 120 North Koreans in August and September.

The Wall Street Journal cited data from the Seoul-based Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, reporting that over 8,000 North Koreans have been repatriated, and 98 percent were sent from China.

The Korean Times, a major South Korean newspaper, reported in March that activists warned that there would be a massive repatriation of North Korean defectors in China once North Korea officially reopens the border with China.

The South Korean government and international rights organizations have said that defectors who are deported back to North Korea face harsh punishment, including detention at labor camps where they are subject to dangerous treatment and conditions.

China has never recognized fleeing North Koreans as defectors and calls them “illegal economic migrants.” These defectors are arrested, imprisoned, and handed over to the North Korean government.

But, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea closed the border with China and refused to accept their own citizens. As a result, the Chinese regime has kept them in detention facilities.

In March, Elizabeth Salmón, the U.N. special rapporteur for North Korea’s human rights, told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, “Due to border closures, over a thousand North Korean escapees have been detained in China indefinitely.” These defectors are at risk of being forcibly deported to their homeland and sent to prison camps once the border reopens.

Great Concern Raised at Congress Hearing

In June, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China held a hearing, “North Korean Refugees and the Imminent Danger of Forced Repatriation from China.”

The hearing raised great concern that North Korean defectors in China face the risk of forced return to North Korea once the cross-border ban is lifted.

Ambassador Robert R. King, former U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, testified that about 34,000 North Koreans have made it to South Korea since the 2000s. The number of North Korean escapees has ranged from 1,000 to 2,700 per year before the pandemic.

In the submitted testimony for the hearing, Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), cited Ms. Kim Jieun, a Seoul-based reporter for Radio Free Asia, pointing out the deadly consequences of forced return for North Korean defectors. They would be sentenced to up to 15 years at a long-term prison-labor facility, and 90 percent of them might end up dying after their return due to harsh conditions.

Suzanne Scholte, chair of North Korea Freedom Coalition, even warned that the returnees might be subjected to “horrific torture and public execution upon forceful repatriation” as Pyongyang imposed a death sentence for North Koreans seeking resettlement in South Korea.

The hearing called for the Chinese regime to stop repatriating these North Korean refugees, accusing Beijing of violating its obligations under the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention and the 1967 Additional Protocol.

Reuters contributed to this report.