By Beijing: One of the group of 10 North Korean defectors, along with his wife and four years old son, was arrested in a raid on a safe house in Shenyang in Liaoning province, north-east China, on 4 November. He then called on Chinese President Xi Jinping not to return them to North Korean because they might face imprisonment or death if they were sent back.
It had been told that earlier that week 10 Koreans illegally crossed the Chinese border and entered the state secretly, were arrested by the Chinese Border Security Forces.
A man (who requested not to expose his name) said, “My son and wife will either face execution or wither away in a political prison camp if send back to North Korea.”
In his message, he requested, “I wish China’s Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump will think of my child as their grandchild and send my son to the free country, South Korea.
“Please help us. Save my family from repatriation. As the father, I beg the two leaders to help my family. Please help us.
“I can almost hear my baby calling my name,” he added, “I can see my baby in that cold cell, crying out for his father. I can’t just stand by doing nothing.”
China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, “I am unaware of details of this case.”
She said, “China consistently upholds the handling of such matters in accordance with domestic and international law and humanitarian principles.”
The Human Rights Watch Deputy Director of charity Phil Robertson told, “North Korean refugees and their families overseas deserve international support. “Governments around the world and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees should call on China to stop sending North Koreans back across the border to face torture, forced labour, sexual abuse, and worse.”
“Anyone who has read the United Nations’ report on North Korea’s crimes against humanity knows that these escapees face torture, imprisonment, forced labour or even execution,” he said, “That’s why I have asked the British Government to urge the Chinese authorities not to send these escapees back to North Korea.”
Furthermore, during the crackdown in last three months nearly 49 North Koreans were arrested, those were declared as illegal migrants or defectors not refugees in China.
Reporter: Syeda Faiza Bukhari