08/05/2003

Refugees International recently spent one week in China along the border with North Korea interviewing North Koreans who had managed to cross the border. China considers North Koreans illegal economic migrants, and subjects them to arrest and deportation, though the arrests tend to go in cycles in response to political events, such as the high profile embassy takeovers in Beijing by activists seeking attention and protection for North Korean asylum seekers. Unless the deportees are caught talking to foreigners or trying to arrange passage to South Korea, they are placed in “labor training centers” in their home towns for one or two months. While the conditions in these centers are terrible, once released, the deportees are not subject to special scrutiny and many attempt to return immediately to China.

Due to the fear of arrest, RI had to conduct these interviews in clandestine locations identified by support networks for North Koreans in China. New arrivals were especially fearful. After a week of hearing horrible stories of famine deaths, precarious living conditions, and the abandonment of family members, RI gained an appreciation for the courage and struggle of North Koreans to survive in the face of political oppression and economic hardship.

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A woman, 38 years old, with her two children, a daughter, 16, and a son, 14

We first came to China in 1997. We have been arrested and deported a total of three times. In April 2002 my husband, my son, and I were arrested. My daughter happened to be out at the time. We were taken to the border crossing point at Tumen and handed to the North Korean security guards. We first went to the county labor training center, then to the local one in our home town. We worked on construction and road building projects, and were provided only with bad corn and corn porridge for food.

In June 2002 my husband and I returned to China. My son was delivered to the border by another person. We returned to where we were staying in China and found our daughter.

We were arrested again in September 2002. This time it was the whole family. In October my daughter and I returned to China, but my husband and son stayed in North Korea. In February they tried to come, but they were arrested in North Korea. My son was sent to an orphanage this time, and my husband to a labor training center. He got sick there, was released, and died three days after his release. My son tried three times to escape from the orphanage and return to China, but each time he was caught and returned. Finally, he was able to escape and re-join us in China in March.

In April my daughter and I were arrested again and deported. On this return I learned that my husband had died. My son had not known. We were again put in the local labor training center. I wanted to see the grave of my husband, so the guards allowed me and my daughter to leave. We then escaped again and returned to China.

Throughout the recounting of this story, the children stare into space. Their eyes well up with tears when the death of their father is mentioned. When we ask what their plans are for the future, at first the answer is silence. Then the mother says that she wants to go to South Korea. Left unsaid is that they will not be able to take another arrest and deportation.

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Woman, 29 years old, with her daughter, age five

I was a teacher inside North Korea. I taught primary school. I left in 1998. My brother knew someone who was familiar with the route and how to get to the border. He dropped me at the border and returned.

I am married to a Korean-Chinese man. When I crossed the border I had three options: go to South Korea, marry a Chinese, or take care of an elderly person. I was afraid to go to South Korea, afraid that this might jeopardize my family in North Korea. So I chose to marry.

I married a farmer. I miss teaching. My family in North Korea was included in the “hostile class,” so I was being watched by the government. The government fears something from educated people. I needed more freedom. I was hoping to be a teacher in China, but it is not possible. I have better food in China and better living conditions. This comforts me a bit. But sometimes I ask myself why I did not choose the South Korean way. What would have happened if I had chosen that path?

I’ve had no contact with my brother since 1998. My mother came to China in 2000. In February 2003 she was arrested and sent back to North Korea.

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Man, 33 years old, his wife, aged 22, and their baby, eight months

I [the man] was in the army and was discharged in 1997. I came home and was not given a job. People were dying. There was no rice distribution. I went to Musan [a Korean town across from the Chinese border] and heard about people crossing into China, so I crossed.

I was caught three months later, was sent back to a prison in my home town, but I escaped after 10 days and crossed again. I came to this place [an isolated area in the hills] in 1998. I’ve been caught twice since then, in August 2002 and February 2003.

In 1997 the treatment was harsher. Now they can’t handle the situation, as so many people are crossing. They put 40 people in a five square meter room. You have to kneel and sleep in this position. In fact, my wife gave birth under those conditions.

Yes, I [the woman] gave birth in a labor training center. I had no parents and my uncle was living in China. He arranged to bring me here to find a husband. I came to China in 2001 and met my husband the next day. In October 2002 I was arrested in the morning and my husband returned from North Korea just a few hours later. He was shocked to find that I had been arrested.

After I gave birth I stayed in the labor training center for another 12 days. But people knew me in my home town and knew that I had had a baby. So they paid the guards to release me and I returned to China.

I [the man] don’t want to go back to North Korea. Sometimes I want to go to South Korea, but I’m worried about the danger of doing this. You get killed for trying to go to South Korea. You’re separated from the regular deportees. Going to church also means a lifetime sentence or death.

I was in the army for 10 years. Everyone was starving. In Pyongyang, I had rice, but just a small amount. We went out at night and stole things. We sold boots. We got pork five times a year for the birthdays of the leaders and the party founding day. In 1999 even the army was eating only corn.

The government told us that only the foolish people died in the famine. They weren’t capable. The capable survived. Now most people have little. They are just trying to survive.

I have no news of my family. Living here is like a paradise compared to North Korea. I have no other goal or dream. Just surviving every day is enough right now.

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RI is advocating for China to honor its obligations as a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 protocol and 1) stop arresting and deporting North Koreans and 2) allow UNHCR access to the border region.