North Korean Refugees

I am absolutely aghast by what I have recently learnt about the treatment of North Korean refugees by the Chinese government.

Whilst in Insadong yesterday I saw an emotive protest against the repatriation of North Korean refugees by China. As you can see from the picture, the protestors from the 444 days campaign set up a mock torture in the middle of a busy street to provoke a reaction.

Many North Koreans seeking refuge have fled north, into China, since it's impossible to go south into South Korea since the border is heavily protected. However any North Koreans discovered to be in China are sent back to North Korea, where they are sent to concentration camps and severely punished or even executed for the crime of leaving their homeland.

The international community views North Korean defectors as 'refugees' and so as a member of the U.N. Security Council, China is going against international law when it deports North Korean refugees.

It seems the Chinese government have made attempts to hide their behaviour from the world:

'In preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and fearful that their brutality against North Korean refugees could be exposed to the world, the government of China has stepped up its repatriation of refugees in an effort to eradicate them. China jails humanitarian workers who try to help refugees, refuses the UN High Commission for Refugees access to the North Korean asylum seekers, and blocks the refugees from seeking resettlement in countries willing to resettle them. Their policy has led to the most avoidable human rights tragedy in the world today and led to over 80% of North Korean women to be exploited by human traffickers, sold into brothels or to Chinese men as sex slaves or "wives", and North Korean men to become slave laborers, while North Korean children become abandoned and stateless.

The North Korean refugee crisis is unique in that they are the only refugee population that have a place to go as they have South Korean citizenship under the Republic of Korea constitution and the United States has consistently offered resettlement for those who qualify.'
(to read the rest of this article follow this link)

It seems the world press have barely picked up on this awful situation and so very little has been written about it. I urge you to look at the 444 campaign website, especially the news page, to find out more.