March 15 2002

UPDATE 3/2002: The refugees are now in South Korea

Christian Solidarity Worldwide is calling for help on behalf of 25 terrified North Koreans who entered the Spanish Embassy in Beijing this morning claiming asylum.

The group pushed their way past the Chinese guards outside the embassy at 9.50am (01.50 GMT) and issued a statement expressing their desperation and certainty of terrible punishment if returned to North Korea.

This statement, addressed 'To Any and All Who Will Listen', reads: "Today we stand before you, 25 North Korean refugees, driven together by danger and desperation. We are six families and two orphan girls, 8 of which are children.

"All 25 of us seek, above all else, to apply for refugee status. However, the current practise of the Chinese local authorities to carry out unconditional and forced repatriation of North Korean defectors and the subsequent persecution by the state in North Korea has forced us to seek help from the international community. For this purpose, we have entered your office for your protection until refugee status is granted to all of us.

"Many of us find it necessary to conceal our identities for fear of dangerous repercussions to our loved ones who remain in North Korea...

"At separate times in 2001 we defected from North Korea in search of food and freedom from oppression. Most of us were caught by Chinese security officials and were then subjected to forced deportation to North Korea. After repatriation, we endured months of detention in North Korea that can only be described as atrocious. As time went on, each of us seized the first opportunity to escape to China again. At present we have come from several different locations in China with the help of foreigners. We wholeheartedly thank them for their vital humanitarian help to our plight.

"If we are to be forcefully repatriated to North Korea by the Chinese government yet again, without doubt, our lives will be in the greatest possible jeopardy. Moreover, there is no doubt in our minds that our freedoms in North Korea will be denied in the light of the record of our earlier defections and this current attempt to go to South Korea. Yet we believe we are fully within our rights under universally accepted international law...

"We are now at the point of such desperation and live in such fear of persecution within North Korea that we have come to the decision to risk our lives for freedom rather than passively await our doom. Some of us carry poison on our person to commit suicide if the Chinese authorities should chose once again to send us back to North Korea.

"The only power we have left is to appeal to you on our knees and with tears."

This case highlights the terrible plight of North Koreans who face hunger and repression in their home country or fear and abuse in China, where the state refuses to recognise them as refugees.

CSW is deeply disturbed by China's refusal to allow the UNHCR to access asylum seekers and its policy of repatriating North Koreans. CSW has received numerous first-hand accounts of North Koreans who have been repatriated and faced terrible penalties for the simple act of leaving their country.

CSW is calling for the protection of the asylum seekers, for their safe passage to South Korea and for a change in the policy towards North Koreans. CSW is urging China, the UNHCR and Spain to ensure that the 25 are not repatriated to North Korea and that they reach safety quickly.

CSW's National Director Stuart Windsor said: "It is terrible that those who have endured such horrific suffering in one of the most closed and oppressive countries in the world, should not even find refuge when they risk their lives to escape.

"This terrible situation has been going on unchecked for far too long. The international community has a duty to protect these immensely vulnerable people and ensure a refuge for those who are desperate enough to risk death for their freedom. If we continue to turn a blind eye to the horrors of North Korea and the deprivations of those who try to escape, history will condemn us for our appalling inhumanity to our fellow man."