North Korean Refugees in China

Most scholars opined that the famine of the 1990s in North Korea began a cascading effect on the refugee influx to China. The refusal of Chinese authorities to recognise North Korean defectors as refugees stems from an agreement between the two allies, The history of this crisis thus starts with the 1986 agreement signed between North Korea and China that binds China to repatriate any defectors back to the North Korean state. The Mutual Cooperation Protocol of 1986 1 has often been quoted by Chinese authorities to justify the repatriation of North Korean refugees. In the cases where refugees have not been repatriated, the lack of recognition by the Chinese State ensures that they are exploited in numerous ways, such as prostitution, bonded labour, torture, detention, forced abortions, denial of medical treatment and housing, etc. No true estimates exist on quantifying the North Korean refugee influx, as it would legitimise the propensity of the issue and bring to light rampant violations of human rights within Chinese borders. Many international stakeholders, like US Congressional Committees, UNHCR, major non-governmental organisations and recently, in April 2023, South Korea spoke on China’s policy on North Korean refugees. China remains in violation of the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees as it continues to undertake forced repatriation and refuse to acknowledge North Korean migrants as refugees, instead branding them as illegal economic migrants. For China, human rights have always been viewed by the CCP as an internal matter. It is caught in a zero-sum game trying to protect its alliance with Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), while facing increasing pressure from various global actors. As of now, the non-recognition of defectors is in favour of China as recognition of refugees could destabilise the region, increase the influx of migrants into the industrial north-east already suffering from labour issues and bring it closer to the USA’s ambit of influence in South Korea and hamper the Chinese influence over DPRK’s nuclear programme. Additionally, recognition of refugees and ensuring rights of minority groups will further exacerbate the issues the Chinese State is facing from Uighurs and Tibetans. It is against this backdrop of national interest that the barefaced exploitation of North Korean defectors has occurred over the years in China.