Faced with the prospects of watching themselves and their families starve, many North Koreans decided that their only hope was to leave the country of their birth in hopes of finding a better life. This was far from an easy decision. For many who fled North Korea, they faced several unappealing options if they remained at home. On one hand, a North Korean may have faced a prolonged death at home from starvation. On the other hand, leaving North Korea without permission is considered an act of treason under North Korean law. By crossing the porous DPRK-Chinese border, one could risk facing a short death at the hands of the government for crimes as paltry as watching foreign movies or attempting to contact the outside world.

With these difficult choices, thousands have escaped the Stalinist state. As North Korea and China share a long and porous border, there are anywhere between 50,000 to 300,000 North Korean refugees within China alone. The majority of refugee traffic occurs in the northeast region contiguous to Yanbian province. This is because the river is shallow and not as wide as at other parts of the border. Crossings also happen here frequently because there is a very large ethnic Korean population located in Yanbian and its major city, Yanji, where North Koreans can ostensibly blend in to evade capture.

Given the human rights situation in North Korea, one could easily argue that many North Koreans who cross the border are by definition “refugees” under every single article of international law. Unfortunately, North Koreans who escape into China cannot enjoy the protection that states are obligated to give refugees. As of November 2008, despite the existence of many North Koreans within Chinese borders who fit the definition of a “refugee” under international law, the PRC refuses to recognize these North Koreans as refugees. The Chinese government instead classifies North Koreans within her borders as “illegal immigrants” and “economic migrants.” This classification gives Beijing the technical right to repatriate North Korean citizens back to their country without technically violating international agreements concerning the treatment of refugees. And repatriate they do: China actively seeks out North Koreans who are within their territory, captures them, and forcefully returns those who would be considered refugees in all but a different context. During the heyday of repatriation in the late 1990’s, hundreds of North Koreans were repatriated by China ever week. Once repatriated, these refugees often face torture to force confessions of guilt, and subsequently imprisoned in gulag-like prison camps. North Koreans who are repeat offenders or have come in contact with Westerners or Christians face harsher punishments: several videos filmed secretly in the DPRK have captured North Koreans being publicly executed.

Therefore, even after escape from North Korea, the North Korean refugee faces an even more difficult task of seeking transit to safe haven.

How do North Korean refugees then escape China? A few non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private citizens have set up a small “underground railroad” that assists North Koreans to transit through China covertly. Through these secret networks, a small number of these refugees have reached sanctuary in places such as the ROK, Europe, the United States, and even Canada. Yet thousands, even hundreds of thousands, still remain within Chinese borders. Those who cannot escape are often the most vulnerable. Women are sexually trafficked; children are sold as labour to local factories. The “underground railroad” alone is a tiny solution to an immense geopolitical issue.

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