On June 14, 2023, the Korea JoongAng Daily published an article covering the testimony provided by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC). The testimony focused on the urgent need to protect North Korean escapees and their rights. China categorises these refugees as economic migrants, not recognizing them as refugees, leading to their deportation back to North Korea where they face severe punishments. The closure of North Korea's borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant decrease in successful defections, but with indications of a potential border reopening, there are worries that China may repatriate the detained refugees. Thus, Human rights activists, including Hanna Song, Director of International Cooperation at NKDB, raised concerns about the potential forcible repatriation of approximately 2,000 North Korean refugees held in Chinese detention centres. Please find the detailed information below.
Hanna Song, director of the Seoul-based Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), showed the commission recent satellite images that indicate Chinese detention facilities located near the border with the North are undergoing construction work, potentially expanding their capacity to hold more North Korean defectors who have been caught in China.
Song said that the number of North Koreans held in detention centers in China is likely between 600 and 2,000.
She said NKDB identified the locations of six major Chinese detention centers through interviews with former Chinese officials and former detainees.
China does not recognize North Korean defectors as refugees, but rather classifies them as economic migrants and subjects them to deportation back to the North, where they often face severe punishment.
You can read the full article in the Korea JoongAng Daily by clicking HERE
On June 14, 2023, the Korea JoongAng Daily published an article covering the testimony provided by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC). The testimony focused on the urgent need to protect North Korean escapees and their rights. China categorises these refugees as economic migrants, not recognizing them as refugees, leading to their deportation back to North Korea where they face severe punishments. The closure of North Korea's borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant decrease in successful defections, but with indications of a potential border reopening, there are worries that China may repatriate the detained refugees. Thus, Human rights activists, including Hanna Song, Director of International Cooperation at NKDB, raised concerns about the potential forcible repatriation of approximately 2,000 North Korean refugees held in Chinese detention centres. Please find the detailed information below.
You can read the full article in the Korea JoongAng Daily by clicking HERE