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Survey tells of abuse of Korean refugees in China

Rare interviews of North Korean refugees hiding in China paint a grim picture of the terrors and deprivations they fled from and the dangers of their new underground existence, according to a report released on Thursday.

The refugees related tales of abuse in China by employers, brokers and individuals engaged in trafficking, including women as prostitutes or brides, said the report by the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea.

Three quarters of the 1,346 refugees polled along the Chinese-North Korean border said that the food shortage problem in reclusive, nuclear-armed North Korea had not improved and most felt that aid was diverted to the military.

"Most surprising, five out of six respondents said that North Koreans are voicing their concerns about the chronic food shortages -- a very large number given the repressiveness of the regime," the report said.

Nearly 10 percent of the respondents reported having been incarcerated in the North Korean gulag, where they attest to witnessing beatings, hunger and infanticide.

The survey highlighted multiple sources of vulnerability in the North Korean refugee community in China, where tens of thousands fled because of famine, food shortages and political repression in North Korea.

"North Korean refugees in China face a particular set of vulnerabilities that range from their insecure legal and personal status, fears of deportation and difficulties in securing livelihoods, said Yoonok Chang, a South Korean human rights researcher who led the survey.

"Whatever disagreements there may be over the ultimate resolution of the refugee problem, there should be no disagreements that they constitute a highly vulnerable population living in fear of arrest and deportation to punishment in the country of their birth," Chang said.

The study conducted from August 2004 to September last year "is unique because it also considered the psychological state of the refugees," Marcus Noland, a North Korea expert who co-edited the report told a news conference.

The study accused China of being "inhospitable" to the refugees in many ways, including detention, allowing forced repatriation and turning a blind eye to trafficking in women.

It urged South Korea, Japan and the US to help China establish temporary resettlement camps together with third-country commitments to accept the refugees for permanent resettlement.
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