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N.Koreans in China Close to Repatriation
Some forty-eight North Korean defectors are awaiting repatriation in detention centers in China's Liaoning and Jilin provinces, and some have tried to commit a suicide, Liberty Forward Party lawmaker Park Sun-young said Wednesday.The figures given by various activist groups vary widely. Park had earlier spoken of "hundreds" of defectors facing repatriation. She now says 25 are held in the Shenyang detention center, 10 at a military camp in Anshan, Liaoning Province, and the rest in another military camp in Baishan, Jilin Province. All three sites are close to the North Korean border. "Last month, 14 North Korean defectors were arrested in several locations such as Kunming, including a baby," Park said. "Some of those detained in Shenyang are said to have tried to take their own lives earlier this week for fear of deportation to the North." Sources earlier said Pyongyang sent 30 security officials to China on Feb. 28 to demand the repatriation of arrested defectors. According to an intelligence official here, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently ordered security forces to "wipe out three generations of those who betrayed their homeland," suggesting the defectors would face heavy punishment if they are repatriated. Park is to travel to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Saturday to seek international cooperation to prevent China from repatriating them. Posted by: Steve White 2012-03-08 |
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