The Chinese government arrested 29 refugees from North Korea on July 15 and 17 in Qingdao (Shandong Province) and Kunming (Yunnan) who could face concentration camps or execution when they are repatriated from China.

Even though the South Korean government claims to be working to secure the release of all those arrested, some sources state that the Chinese authorities will go ahead with the repatriation since they do not want to face a flood of refugees.

Yoon Yeo-sang, the Centre for Human Rights in North Korea, said: “Despite relations between Beijing and Seoul having improved, while those with Pyongyang have worsened, China has never stopped sending defectors back to the North and isn’t going to: it fears the economic burden of a possible mass exodus.”

SOURCE: Asia News