When is a refugee not a refugee? When they're an economic migrant.
The UN Refugee Convention, to which China is a signatory, specifies that refugees who have legitimate fears of persecution on return to their home country should not be forced to return. When it comes to North Korean refugees, who clearly have a very real fear of persecution to the extent of torture, imprisonment, and even death should they be repatriated, China simply regards them as economic migrants, and happily sends them back to the chilly embrace of the Supreme Commander's prison camps.
Stephen Haggard and Jaesung Ryu:
[J]ust to be clear, the Chinese collaboration in returning these defectors is not arms length, but involves collaboration with DPRK State Security. In one of the crackdowns DPRK State Security even tracked cell phone signals by forcing those who were captured to make calls to other parties in hiding.
The particular concern is that North Korean regime has significantly tightened both control of the border and punishment for those caught crossing during the 100-day mourning period. Reportage on this remains a little sketchy. Dong-a claims that the regime has issued an edict that it will execute three generations of families caught crossing the border. This would seem over-the-top, but this is North Korea; it is well-known that the regime has used collective punishment and that whole families have been interred in the prison camps for the crimes of one member.
The Chinese motive is fairly clear: they don't want a North Korean collapse. To preserve the status quo and prevent a tsunami of refugees flooding over the border, they'll ignore their obligations under the Refugee Convention, and instead send out a strong signal that any North Koreans seeking refuge from the hell-hole that is the Greatest Socialist Nation will be sent straight back again.
Now the South Koreans are calling on China to comply with refugee laws, and even Amnesty are getting involved - though with little sign of success:
Amnesty International staff visited the Chinese Embassy in Seoul on Monday to deliver an open letter and SMS petitions urging Beijing not to repatriate 21 North Koreans arrested in China.
A total of 5,521 people participated in text-messaging to request the release of the North Koreans, and 9,163 people sent petitioning emails to Chinese President Hu Jintao, AI said.
China has already said it will treat the North Koreans according to its own principles. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei on Monday recited the customary formula that Beijing is dealing with the issue "based on international and domestic laws and humanitarian principles."
When a reporter in the press briefing pointed out that repatriation goes against humanitarian principles and the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, Hong bristled, saying, "We cannot accept such rhetoric."
In reality, Beijing almost always repatriates arrested North Korean escapees to maintain its close relationship with the North Korean regime, based on an agreement on border control signed between the two countries in 1986.
Seoul has repeatedly urged China not to send North Koreans back, but quiet bilateral diplomacy has proven largely fruitless. There are claims that nearly 40 North Koreans in China on the verge of being repatriated this month alone.
Kim Yong-hwa of the North Korea Refugees Human Rights Association said, "What's covered in the media is just the tip of the iceberg. There are thousands of North Koreans being sent back from China every year." Estimates vary significantly from one organization to another, but China is said to be sending an average of 4,000 to 5,000 North Koreans back every year.
More links, plus petitions etc., here.
Comments