乐鱼 体育

by Veronica Coffey

The number of repatriated North Korean refugees has grown since China increased its border surveillance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  from various human rights groups, Chinese authorities forcibly repatriated upwards of  North Korean refugees back to North Korea in 2023 and  refugees in April of 2024. The repatriation agreement between China and the Democratic People鈥檚 Republic of Korea (DPRK) categorizes North Korean refugees as illegal economic migrants and permits China to forcibly return them, even though China has ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol. While media coverage of North Korea often focuses on nuclear weapons testing and its hostile attitude towards the West, it is essential to highlight the resilience of North Korean refugees, especially the women, and the challenges they face in their journeys to find safety in China and beyond. 

Upon return, North Korean refugees are labeled as enemies of the state and can face torture, forced labor in prison camps, imprisonment, sexual assault, and execution. Most North Korean refugees are women who are at risk of to men in rural China. While these risks are, North Korean women have continued to make the journey from North Korea to South Korea via China to pursue freedom for themselves and provide financial support for their families back home. 

Refugees often escape North Korea via its 1,146-kilometer-long border with China. While North Korea also shares a 17-kilometer border with Russia, most cross the Yalu River to China. From there, refugees travel to Southeast Asia, where they can more readily seek asylum through human rights organizations and South Korean embassies. However, nations such as Myanmar and Laos also repatriate North Koreans, making Thailand the easiest country from which North Koreans can claim asylum. Once they can connect with a human rights organization or a South Korean embassy, these refugees are already recognized as South Korean citizens. They are then brought to South Korea for resettlement through the Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees, also known as 鈥淗anawon鈥�, which prepares them for life in South Korea. 

Human Rights Violations in North Korea

The DPRK is notorious for its human rights violations, including the repression of speech and religion to maintain the legitimacy of its authoritarian regime. The movement of North Koreans is heavily constrained: any form of border crossing is considered a crime against the state. Freedom House, a nonprofit that evaluates and advocates for democracy and individual freedoms globally, ranked the DPRK as one of the regimes in the world in its 2023 Freedom in the World report. The combination of repression and economic insecurity stemming from poverty, isolationism, and economic sanctions, has pushed North Koreans to flee the country in larger numbers since the Great Famine of the 1990s which caused the deaths of 2.5-3.5 million people. 

Unofficial estimates of North Koreans living in China range from people.  The majority are located in the northeastern region known as the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin province. This region borders the DPRK and is home to around 1.9 million known as Joseonjok. The Joseonjok are ethnic Koreans with Chinese nationality who have resided in China for centuries long before the division of the Korean Peninsula in 1948. This is advantageous for North Korean refugees as the Korean language is still commonly spoken there. This allows refugees to have less of a language barrier in Jilin and arouse less suspicion in Chinese authorities when navigating their escape. When North Koreans travel farther south where Joseonjok are not common and Korean is less spoken, these refugees are more often targeted by Chinese authorities due to the language barrier. 

China鈥檚 Repatriation Policy and Mutual Cooperation

China and North Korea鈥檚 was signed on June 9, 1964, in Pyongyang and mutually recognizes each state鈥檚 cooperation in preventing illegal border crossings. The agreement, 鈥�Mutual Cooperation Protocol for the Work of Maintaining National Security and Social Order and the Border Areas,鈥� mutually recognizes each state鈥檚 role in repatriating displaced or fugitive citizens. Article 5 of the agreement states, 鈥渨hen counterrevolutionaries (including spies, special agents, saboteurs, and conspirators) and basic criminals escape across the border, the other side should be notified. The side receiving notification should take necessary measures to provide assistance.鈥� This protocol has been in effect since 1964, with China strictly returning any North Koreans to the DPRK. 

To deter further migration into northeastern China, Beijing has implemented a repatriation policy that permits authorities to arrest and remove North Korean refugees.  Chinese police authorities monitor and search homes, churches, and factories to detain refugees in hiding. This is in spite of China being party to the 1951 United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol. The number of refugees COVID-19 pandemic due to health surveillance measures including ID checks and health testing and a between the two states to prevent the spread of the virus. The DPRK also during the pandemic by building more watchtowers, expanding routine patrols, and bolstering pre-existing border walls. However, these measures have persisted since the pandemic and continue to challenge North Korean refugees. Additionally, Chinese authorities incentivize civilians to report undocumented North Koreans with financial compensation. 

What incentivizes China to repatriate fleeing North Koreans? Although both states share geological proximity, a, and a history of Communist ideology rooted in authoritarianism, their relationship has strained over time. Due to North Korea鈥檚 capricious nature and its superfluous testing of nuclear weapons, China has come to view the DPRK as more of a liability rather than a strategic ally. China prioritizes strategic stability on the Korean Peninsula and constantly struggles to tame the DPRK's nuclear weapons development. 

More recently, tensions between North Korea and China have heightened since North Korea鈥檚 in the war in Ukraine. North Korea and Russia鈥檚 signing of a and the DPRK mobilizing its soldiers to the Russian region of Kursk have strained relations with China. The DPRK鈥檚 deepening alliance with Russia threatens China鈥檚 desired regional stability and has led to deteriorating relations with North Korea. Therefore, appeasing the North Korean government in terms of refugee policy can be seen as a way for China to manage the relationship and maintain diplomatic relations with a state that is known for its belligerence with international actors. 

Trafficking of North Korean Women in China 

Over the past 25 years, 72% of North Korean refugees who have arrived in South Korea have been women. In 2023, of North Korean refugees were women. include political and religious persecution, gender discrimination, and financial distress. Additionally, Chinese brokers have begun trafficking North Korean women due to the black market鈥檚 demand for brides in China. This market is a direct result of the One Child Policy, which was established by the Chinese Community Party in 1979 and abolished in 2015. The One Child Policy led to a severe gender imbalance that persists to this day and in 2020, there were an estimated 34.9 million more Chinese men than women. The demand for black market brides, especially in rural China, had exponentially driven the rise in forced marriage and sexual slavery through the targeting and trafficking of North Korean women. North Korean women are often lured by Chinese brokers with falsified intentions, as brokers often promise women work in restaurants or factories when in fact they are being sold to Chinese men. Once married, North Korean women are often isolated with no support system to easily escape their situation due to the fear of repatriation and the potential inability to continue sending money back to family still in the DPRK. Notably, some women are so desperate to support their families back home that they willingly agree to marry Chinese men, highlighting the severe system of exploitation rooted in gender-based violence that perpetuates the trafficking of North Korean women in China. 

China鈥檚 Hukou Household Registration System   

China鈥檚 household registration system, known as the Hukou system, further restricts the liberties of North Korean refugees who both unwillingly and willingly marry Chinese men. The Hukou system acts as an internal migration mechanism that monitors the quantity of the population, restricts internal migration, and exerts population control. Every Chinese citizen must register into the Hukou system which categorizes them by province and gives citizens access to social services from education to healthcare. However, North Korean female refugees who are illegitimately married to Chinese men are and are restricted from accessing public services and protection. Those who do not have proper documentation proving their legal status to reside in China cannot register under the Hukou system and can therefore not access essential public services including education, healthcare, public transportation, and legal protection. 

Not only is the legal status of North Korean women threatened but also are susceptible to becoming stateless because they cannot be registered through the Hukou system. The household registration requires children to provide detailed documentation of both parents, including a valid marriage certificate. Most children of North Korean women and Chinese men are not registered for fear of exposing their undocumented North Korean mothers, and most marriages between North Korean women and Chinese men do not have official marriage documentation. Therefore, these children are left stateless and cannot access social services such as schooling and healthcare. Additionally, North Korean women do not have legal claim over their children which could disincentivize them from seeking asylum in South Korea due to fear of family separation. 

If North Korean women want their children registered into the household registration system, they must find such as bribing local authorities, registering them under the Chinese husband鈥檚 relative's registry, claiming the child鈥檚 wife is dead or missing, or declaring their children is a result of extramarital birth. Some women opt for fake marriage licenses and fake Hukou registration to better provide for their children, which can be a very expensive and tedious process. Parents must bribe school administrators to permit their children to attend school, and the decentralization of Hukou laws constantly changes depending on local governance, making understanding the status quo difficult for North Koreans in different regions of China. Higher education is even more strict, with many children鈥檚 education stopping at elementary school due to their invalid documentation. 

Another barrier to registering under the Hukou system reappears when North Korean women resettle in South Korea. North Korean women often use their forged Hukou registration and falsified Chinese passports to buy direct flights from China to Jeju Island in South Korea, where do not require visas. Once North Korean women arrive in Jeju, the South Korean government immediately recognizes them as citizens. However, the process of bringing their children and families to South Korea after successful resettlement is challenging given South Korea鈥檚. A lack of a valid Hukou prohibits the legal recognition of North Korean women as the mothers of their children and makes the South Korean naturalization process for these children extremely challenging. Furthermore, many of these children do not even have a Chinese passport and cannot leave the country to take a direct flight to Jeju, prolonging family separation. Due to the injustices of the Hukou system, many North Korean women cannot bring their undocumented children when they resettle to South Korea.  

Recommendations and Way Forward

restricts international agencies and humanitarian organizations such as the UNHCR from working in the Northeastern regions where the majority of North Korean refugees reside. The international community should urge China to permit international humanitarian aid groups to work in this region to help North Korean refugees resettle in South Korea. Additionally, the Chinese borderlands would benefit from the non-governmental and private agencies鈥� aid to refugees and other impoverished groups in the area. International aid workers should be permitted to work in the region and not be subject to harassment or arrest from Chinese authorities.   

On one hand, Chinese policymakers believe that granting refugee status to North Korean refugees will lead to a mass influx into China. However, regional allies can provide China with assistance in the resettlement of these refugees to South Korea. This cooperation can alleviate China鈥檚 fears of refugees remaining in China if Beijing is offered alternative opportunities to resettle them in countries such as South Korea and the United States. Furthermore, given that the majority of North Koreans鈥� end destination is South Korea rather than China, legalizing the status of North Korean refugees could reduce the number of them hiding in rural China. 

While Beijing wants to restrict the influx of North Korean refugees, its deteriorating relations with North Korea could propel China to engage in dialogue to work more collaboratively with international organizations on the repatriation of North Koreans. The increased presence of international organizations could help pressure Beijing to halt its repatriation practices given that it is party to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Refugee Convention. The repatriation of North Korean refugees directly violates these international human rights agreements. Persuading China to recognize North Korean refugees as refugees rather than illegal economic migrants will protect them from harassment from Chinese authorities and from the threat of forcible repatriation to North Korea.