Beijing carries out months-long crackdown on illegal immigrants


China’s ongoing campaign against illegal immigrants has sparked concerns that North Korean defectors hiding in the country will become more vulnerable to human rights abuses.

Amid stepped-up searches, refugees may have to do whatever it takes not to be dragged back to the oppressive state, even if that means selling themselves into slavery or prostitution, activists and defectors said.

“As they fear repatriation, they cannot but choose to move deeper into the dark sides of society where there is no protection whatsoever for their human rights,” Kim Hee-tae, secretary-general of the Group for North Korea Human Rights, told The Korea Herald.

“For them, it is still better to remain in China than face harsh punishment in the North, although their freedom will be constrained there, but not as seriously as it was in the North.”

Calling defectors “traitors,” Pyongyang has reportedly warned of severe punishment, which defectors. On March 15, Beijing launched a 100-day nationwide crackdown on foreigners who illegally crossed borders, gained jobs without proper visas and overstayed their visas. 

The move comes as it gears up for a once-in-a-decade leadership handover later this year during which stability is critical. Experts pointed out that growing criticism of China forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees appears to be another reason for the tightened border security.

With intensifying crackdowns, many refugees face other tribulations in China, sometimes even tougher than what they experienced in the North, defectors said.

“Female defectors are sold to karaoke bars in China on many occasions, where they are forced to serve liquor and some things that go beyond that. Many girls are forced to serve in adult online chat rooms these days,” said a defector, declining to be identified.

“Male defectors usually work on remote mountains. Amid intensifying crackdowns, their employers refuse to pay them while threatening to report them. Their anger builds up and they then do something like committing homicide. It is a vicious cycle.”

The defector, who crossed the border in 1999, arrived here in 2005. He had his own share of tribulations during his five-year stay in China.

Citing his sources in China, North Korean Intellectual Solidarity chief Kim Heung-kwang said that Beijing now carries out a stringent security operation that takes place about once a decade.

“I heard that police and security staff are in every nook of the streets. All defectors must take shelter and cannot come out of it,” he said. “Most of the brokers appear to have returned home due to the crackdown. Chinese residents also refuse to help defectors in dire need of their support.” 
In particular, the border control in China’s three northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning has tightened. Up to 50,000 North Korean defectors are thought to be holed up in the region.

Sources said in some border towns, there are posters on the walls urging residents to report defectors. Many houses have also been equipped with a police alert system.

The clampdown also targets activist groups that have been operating near the border areas to help North Korean refugees. Chinese authorities take issue with their visas, which are mostly intended for tourism, not activism, activists said.

Kim Young-hwan, a renowned human rights activist, and his three colleagues have been held in China for unspecified reasons since late March. They have been denied access to their families, the South Korean consulate and legal assistance.

“In recent weeks, more and more missionaries and activists have been ordered to leave the country. (The Chinese authorities) even threatened to punish them out if they don’t return home quickly,” said Peter Chung, chief of the Justice for North Korea, an activist group based in Seoul.

One of the reasons for tightened border security is to mitigate international criticism of Beijing’s human rights violations, experts noted. As the repatriation issue has gained global attention, China might have felt embarrassed, they said.

Sticking to the decades-old repatriation pact with Pyongyang, China has deported North Korean refugees, who it calls “illegal economic migrants.”

“Should there be no defectors from the North. They think there would not be much fuss about human rights, so they apparently seek fundamental ways to deter defection,” said Kim of the NKIS.

For China, human rights is one of the most sensitive issues as experts claim it has pushed for development and national unity at the expense of universal rights. The issue has gotten on its nerves as activists have disputed its control over Tibet and Xinjiang Uighur.

The U.S. State Department said in its annual report last week that China’s record on human rights deteriorated as Beijing engaged in widespread and expanding repression of its own people and ethnic minorities last year.

“Due to diplomatic friction with the U.S. and other countries stemming from human rights issues, (China) will continue to step up border control,” said Chun In-young, professor emeritus at Seoul National University.

“What makes me feel sad is that Beijing does not care much about pressure from the media whether it is domestic or international. When defectors are sent back, they even face death. It is unethical and inappropriate for China, now praised as part of the G2, to do this rather protecting them.”

As another reason for border crackdowns, NKIS chief Kim said that Beijing might have expected a massive group of defectors to seek food as there is a severe shortage expected until late August. Some parts of the North have recently suffered severe droughts.

He also pointed out that China appears to be intensifying its crackdown on activists since some 2,000 North Koreans it plans to bring in to address its labor shortage in the border provinces could attempt to defect to the South with their assistance.

Some observers said that Beijing is trying to remove anything that could undermine its national stability ahead of its scheduled leadership transition.

There have apparently been concerns in China over foreigners spreading unconfirmed rumors about the leadership transition, including those about the recent scandal involving formerly high-flying political star Bo Xilai. Following the scandal, a deep factional fissure within the Communist Party came to light.

“China may need to close ranks on its own people (ahead of the leadership transition). But it may also have to deal with foreigners leaking information to the outside,” said Kim Hee-tae.

Experts said that defectors suffering in China are in desperate need of help to move them to locations far away from the borders, where there is not much scrutiny on foreigners.

More than 23,200 North Koreans have defected to the South since the 1950-53 Korean War.

The number of defectors steadily increased annually from 2005 until 2009 ― 1,383 in 2005, 2,018 in 2006, 2,544 in 2007, 2,809 in 2008 and 2,927 in 2009, according to the Unification Ministry.

It then dropped to 2,379 in 2010 when Pyongyang tightened its border control while preparing for the hereditary power succession. Last year, the figure rebounded to 2,737.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)