Christian Solidarity Worldwide has said the forcible repatriation of 10 North Korean defectors from China is a “gross violation” of international principles.
The UK religious freedom advocacy says the 10 defectors, who range from a child of four to adults aged in their 40s, were arrested on 4th November after police raided a house in Shenyang, north-east China. The father of the four-year-old child, who fled to South Korea in 2015, has told the BBC that the group was repatriated a few days ago despite his appeals to Chinese authorities not to return his wife and child to North Korea.
He said he believed that the group were not in a detention centre in North Korea.
Benedict Rogers, East Asia team leader at CSW, described the decision as “absolutely inhumane…and a gross violation of the international principle of non-refoulement”.
“We call on the international community to take steps to convey its outrage to China over this extreme cruelty, and to ensure that North Korea refrains from any repercussions against these 10 individuals,” he said in a statement.
“We urge China to urgently review how it came to this decision and to stop further violations of international norms. China’s decision in this and previous cases make it an accomplice to North Korea’s crimes against humanity.”
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, told the BBC that by returning the group, China was “complicit in the torture, forced labour, imprisonment and other abuses they will suffer”.
“They are doomed and Beijing’s refusal to protect them and treat them as refugees fleeing persecution is precisely the reason why.”
