Yonhap News reports in English. They were busted in two shelters early yesterday morning by Chinese police. Can’t say much more now except to point you to the story and give you a quote:
South Korean activists in China are concerned the latest raid reflects a change in the country’s approach toward North Korean refugees and those assisting them.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue on Tuesday called on foreign diplomatic missions in China to stop providing shelter to North Korean asylum seekers.
“We hope these embassies will refrain from providing refugee status to those illegal immigrants,” she said.
Nice. What more can I say?
There is a press conference being held outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) from 2pm today by a South Korean group assisting defectors. I don’t imagine it will get much press, but if and when I get any details from it I will update here.
11 Comments
You forgot to mention that they will also start “severely” punishing those who give shelter or any help to the North Koreans.
Many here have criticized the way South Korea has handled the NK defector issues. Should South Koreans be the only ones to be criticized? But just read Powell’s latest statements, which perfectly illustrates the most powerful country on earth all but sucking up to China’s ass regarding Taiwan. It’s not just South Korea who does that.
OK the North Korean human rights bill passed in the US, but what is that going to do for those North Koreans who were captured at the Mexican border, trying to sneak into the US? The record of granting refugee assylums to North Koreans in the US and Canada (although very small in sample) have not been very good so far. Already there are reports that this group will be deported to South Korea. This suggests to me that once the flood gates open, it will be South Korea’s burden to take them all in, as none of the other countries will want them.
Now we have the latest news that China will round up all the refugees and punish those who harbor them. Disregard what kind of action South Korea will have for a second. What about the rest of the world? Will they stay apathetically silent just the same? Probably. I bet you there will be even more foreign investment dollars flowing into China so that we can all have cheap Made In China consumer goods that we’ve been hooked onto.
i don’t understand why don’t the south koreans setup shop in the russian far east. the border between china and russia is very porous over there. an underground railway can be organized for the nk refugees to escape over to china then on to russia and safety.
rushing embassies just put people’s lives at risk. sometimes i think that these organizers have other motives in mind then to help these refugees. either that or they are simple passionate idiots.
I have to agree with MW, I honestly do not want these North Korean refugees to suffer(unlike what my detractors would believe), however I am skeptical of the efficacy of such high profile defections. For one thing, the impact of such acts make life much harder for those North Koreans residing in China and making a living. I don’t know what the estimates are, but there are possibly tens of thousands of North Koreans who work in China, and earn money to send it back to their relatives. Repeated defector incidents only increases the political pressure from North Korea on China to start cracking down on these people. The preferrable alternative to prominent defections in Beijing for those who genuinely want to go to South Korea should be low key movements into countries that border China. MW is absolutely right about the heavily trafficked crossing around the the Chinese/Russian border. Every day Russians businessmen or shoppers come en mass to cities on the Chinese side of the border and the outflow is just as significant. Further west, Mongolia makes another easy point of entrance as the border between China and Mongolia is vast, probably unpatrolled, and sparsely populated. Chinese and Mongolians even enjoy visa free travel across the border and it would seem like a fairly safe bet to refuge rather than scaling an embassy wall in Beijing.
waiting patiently for your comments on ulaan bator, mr marmot
I have posted a sample letter here for U.S. voters to write to their representatives, and here at NKZone. You can ask them to urge China to release these folks to the South Koreans. China often will do that if there’s enough of a public outcry.
Kimbob, can you provide a link to the story on North Koreans apprehended at the Mexican border?
These people were caught with South Korean activists, so they don’t stand much of a chance if they’re sent back to North Korea.
Kimbob, many thanks for the many comments and useful information. Could you tell us more about the North Koreans at the Mexican border? Google news turned up nothing for me.
All: There has been some talk around here that the US’s law passed recently on NoKo human rights issues is forcing China’s hand in this matter. I hope to blog later today. Stay tuned folks, things are getting rough.
The reason for the high profile defections is very simple. To bring publicity to the plight which so far has been mostly ignored, force the hands of South Korea, the US, China and the world. to shame them to do something. To publicly humiliate North Korea, force them to collapse.
The reason why China is more attractive to the NK people are also simple. There are many ethnic Koreans in China who can help them. The NK people can hide out more easily and blend into the population. It’s more difficult to do that in Russia. Plus, the Russian/NK border spans a much shorter distance so therefore it’s easier for the NK border patrol. What good is it if the refugees have to cross the Sino/NK border, go into China, then cross again the Sino/Russian border, into Russia, when the Russians have basically the same policy of sending back the refugees to North Korea? No, there is no advantage for the refugees to do that.
The only viable alternative is for China and Russia to set up refugee camps all along the borders, let the UN humanitarians to go in to administer the area, allow donations and other kinds of help from South Korea, the US, and elsewhere. If China won’t take them in as immigrants, then at least give a chance for other countries to process them for immigration. And hell with the North Korean threats.
I will sign that petition. And what is this “ulterior motive” that you and the Chinese foriegn ministry keeps talking about? What’s so ulterior about trying to help people escape from hunger, torture, concentration camps, and the hell hole called Beijing?
I don’t have the link with me right now for the news of NK people who got caught in the Mexican/US border. It was in the Korean language TV media, so I will try my best to dig it up.
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And how much of this is a Chinese effort to win the confidence of NK for the sake of the ‘nuclear threat’? As much as the US retraction of troops in SK?
Protest in NY and on-line Monday. Details on NKZone. If you want to participate, I posted sample letters to Chinese officials and their e-mail addresses here.