China: North Korean refugees fear deportation after borders reopen

A North Korean refugee holds a sign declaring his opposition to the repatriation of refugees to North Korea. (illustration) ASSOCIATED PRESS - Lee Jin-man

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2 min

Concern is growing over the possible repatriation of North Korean refugees to China. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the border between Beijing and Pyongyang has remained closed, halting deportations of refugees. But the lifting of health restrictions raises fears of a resumption of repatriations, when the borders are officially opened. The fate of refugees returning to North Korea has the United Nations warned.

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With our correspondent in Seoul, Célio Fioretti

For three years and the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, deportations of North Korean refugees from China have stopped. But while the border between the two countries could soon reopen, the United Nations and NGOs warn about the fate of refugees upon arrival in North Korea. They would face imprisonment, hard labour and even torture for fleeing the country.

Elizabeth Salmon, the UN's special rapporteur on North Korea, said last month: "With the borders closed, more than a thousand North Korean refugees are being held indefinitely in China. Their forced repatriation risks sending them to kwanliso, political prison camps.

According to the Daily NK, a media specializing in North Korea, Chinese police have already begun to intensify their checks, including phones, to flush out North Korean refugees. For Beijing, the latter are not considered refugees or asylum seekers, but illegal immigrants, which justifies their expulsion from the territory.

The US representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, called on China to "play a role in stopping human rights violations" and recalled the UN's obligations regarding the treatment of refugees.

To this day, the border between the two countries remains closed. But the arrival of a Chinese emissary in Pyongyang at the beginning of April gives the hypothesis of a reopening soon. According to observers, North Korea could formalize the opening of its border after April 15, the birthday of Kim Il-sung, founder of the regime.

► Read also: North Korea: communicate with relatives, a mission that has become difficult for defectors

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Read on on the same topics:

• North Korea
• China
• Human rights
• Coronavirus