Leaving North Korea is a crime. Those caught attempting to escape are beaten. imprisoned in concentration camps. or executed. Instead of recognizing North Koreans as political refugees. China labels them economic migrants. Instead of providing sanctuary. it hunts them down and. like the North Korean government. beats and imprisons them. Finally. they are forcibly repatriated to North Korea. even though this is often tantamount to a death sentence. The Peoples Republic of China is party to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol to that Convention. These are the international instruments that detail the protections for refugees. Despite this. China has not allowed United Nations agencies access to the North Koreans living in China. and its aforementioned treatment of North Korean refugees violates these international agreements. I thank my colleague Representative ED ROYCE for introducing this legislation. and I join his call for China to live up to its humanitarian responsibilities with respect to North Korean refugees.
Keywords matched
migrants Refugees refugees