[Human Rights as Seen by a North Korean Defector] “Forced Repatriation of North Korean Defectors VS Boycott of the Hangzhou Asian Games”

Chris Smith, co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, speaks at a rally, telling the Chinese government that the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors is a violation of international law.

<Human Rights as Seen by a North Korean Defector> is hosted by Jeong-yeong. On the 23rd, a large-scale protest by North Korean human rights groups against the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors was held in front of the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. While individual and collective protests have taken place in front of the Chinese embassy every year, this time, they were held amid a sense of crisis that North Korea may open its borders and forcibly repatriate thousands of North Korean defectors who were caught during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, <Human Rights as Seen by a North Korean Defector> will deliver news from the protest site. (Protest site sound): Let’s save North Korean defectors! China, stop the forced repatriation of North Korean refugees! Braving the sweltering heat, about 100 people including Chris Smith, co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. Congress, North Korean human rights activists, and Christian leaders from South Korea gathered in front of the Chinese embassy. This protest, centered around the National Movement for the Investigation of the Truth about the Forced Repatriation of North Korean Defectors, the Washington DC Unification Plaza Prayer Meeting, the New York Unification Plaza Prayer Meeting, the Atlanta Unification Plaza Prayer Meeting, the Chicago Unification Plaza Prayer Meeting, the Dallas Unification Plaza Prayer Meeting, the Americas Esther Prayer Movement, and human rights groups such as the World Coalition Against the Forced Repatriation of North Korean Defectors and the North Korean Defectors’ Freedom Coalition, is taking place in a chain reaction starting in Washington DC and continuing in major cities in the US where there are Chinese consulates, such as Texas and Chicago. Chris Smith, co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the US Congress, said, “The issue of human rights in North Korea is a bipartisan agenda, and the US Congress expresses its concerns about China’s forced repatriation of North Korean defectors.” Congressman Chris Smith: The 2,600 North Korean defectors who are forcibly repatriated will be tortured, sent to concentration camps, and executed. This is a violation of international law. China joined the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees on September 24, 1982. Article 33 of the International Refugee Convention stipulates that "No Contracting State shall expel or return (expel or return) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion." Despite signing the UN Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees 41 years ago, China has been forcibly repatriating North Korean defectors. China also signed the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter referred to as the "Convention Against Torture") on December 12, 1986, and ratified it on October 4, 1988, becoming a state party. Despite Article 3 of the Convention against Torture stipulating that “no State Party shall expel, return or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that a person would be in danger of being subjected to torture,” China has not yet established refugee status recognition procedures for North Korean defectors in accordance with the Refugee Convention, and claims that North Korean defectors are not refugees but illegal immigrants who have violated immigration procedures and regulations and are not subject to the principle of non-refoulement. This claim by China directly contradicts the testimonies of North Korean residents who were forcibly repatriated and then defected again, and so the United States and the international community are demanding that China comply with international conventions. The protesters demanded that the Chinese government, as a state party to international conventions, comply with its obligations to protect North Korean refugees, immediately stop forcibly repatriating the 2,600 North Korean defectors currently in custody, and grant them all UN refugee status in accordance with the UN Refugee Convention.

Protesters are holding a street demonstration. /RFA Photo - Jeong Yeong

The protest against the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors was also attended by North Korean defectors who have settled in the United States as refugees. Justin Seo, who lives in Virginia on the eastern coast of the United States, took the microphone and told the story of how he almost got forcibly repatriated to North Korea, facing the Chinese embassy. Justin Seo: When I was in China, a Chinese taxi driver tried to take me to the police. I almost got caught by the police and was in danger of being forcibly repatriated. God protected me and I was able to come here. Justin Seo left his hometown of Hyesan in the late 1990s and lived in hiding in the Yanbian region of Jilin Province, China, before coming to the United States in 2009. He claimed that “there are not many North Korean refugees in the United States now,” and that “this is because China has been inhumanely capturing and forcibly repatriating North Korean defectors.” The protest began amid rumors that North Korea would completely open its borders, raising concerns that thousands of North Korean defectors would be forcibly repatriated as a result. North Korean human rights experts and activists have been concerned that if North Korea opens its borders, North Korean defectors will be the first to be repatriated. Three days after this protest, on the 26th, North Korea announced through a notice from the National Emergency Management Command that “the return of our citizens (North Korean nationals) who were staying overseas has been approved” due to COVID-19. Since January 31, 2020, North Korea has closed its borders to prevent the spread of COVID-19 for nearly three years and seven months, and as a result, defectors arrested in China and third countries have been imprisoned in prisons in Dandong and Tumen. The statement distributed that day pointed out that a total of approximately 2,600 defectors were arrested in China, and that they were in a tense situation where they could be forcibly repatriated at any time. Most of these people were arrested by the Chinese police while crossing the third border, such as Vietnam or Laos, with the guidance of their family and relatives in South Korea, so there are concerns that if they are forcibly repatriated, they will be labeled as “prayers for South Korea” and taken to political prison camps. “The number of defectors is likely to be much higher than 2,600,” said Justin Seo, a North Korean defector. Justin Seo: It must be at least 200,000 to 300,000. When I was in the Chongjin Prison, I heard that 2,000 people were released at a time in the winter. He told a story about how he narrowly escaped being captured by the Chinese police and said that China should allow North Korean defectors to go wherever they choose. Professor Lee Yong-hee of the National Coalition for North Korean Defectors Against Forced Repatriation, who read the statement to be delivered to the Chinese embassy, told Radio Free Asia that this protest is the golden time to stop the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors in time for the Hangzhou Asian Games. Professor Lee Yong-hee: With the recent lifting of the border blockade, I heard that there are currently about 2,000 North Korean defectors in the Chinese border guards and about 500 North Korean defectors in Nanning who were caught trying to cross the Vietnamese border to the south. So, there is an atmosphere that they will force them to return to China, so we started shouting to prevent that. Also, this is a good golden time because the Hangzhou Asian Games will start on September 23. Last year, China was hit hard by the boycott of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Human rights issues have come up a lot, so we think this is a golden time, and before the Hangzhou Asian Games, we hope that many countries around the world and Asian countries will shout: Do not force them to return. Otherwise, we can boycott the Asian Olympics on one side. If this issue comes up and is handled well and they are recognized as UN refugees, this will be an opportunity to prevent North Korean defectors from being forced to return again and allow them to go to the country they want. Pastor Lee Jung-in also encourages North Korean defectors imprisoned in China not to give up hope. Pastor Lee Jung-in: You may not be able to hear my story now, but when you come out of prison and are free, you will hear that we, who are here, have not forgotten you. All of us, Koreans and Americans, who are here, have desperately hoped for your freedom, and that is why we are here with you, earnestly hoping for your safe release. Citizen Kim Yong-don from Maryland says that the Chinese authorities, who dream of becoming a “world leader,” should not ignore universal human values. Pastor Kim Yong-don: We must stop them loudly in the land of freedom that we are calling for so strongly. Of course, Xi Jinping will never respond, but if we stand by and watch them trample on us like that, we will be the same in the eyes of God. If we stand by and watch them commit evil deeds, we will be treated the same. That is why we must pressure China to stop them. Of course, Xi Jinping will never respond, but we must do it to the end. One speaker pleaded, “If President Xi Jinping is a man with children and grandchildren, he should not send helpless North Korean defectors to their deaths.” The protesters marched through the streets, chanting slogans calling for an end to the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors. In today’s segment of <Human Rights as Seen by a North Korean Defector>, we reported on the protests held at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. to stop the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors in China following North Korea’s opening of its borders. This is Jeong Young from Radio Free Asia in Washington. Thank you. Editor: Jinseo Lee, Web Team: Kyungha Lee

Read the original article