Tensions are running high among North Korean defectors in China as rumors of repatriations spread through the China-North Korea border region, Daily NK has learned.
“There have been rumors going around again among defectors in China that the authorities will start repatriating them to North Korea, so people are afraid and on edge,” a source in China told Daily NK on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
According to the source, rumors are spreading that the Chinese authorities intend to repatriate both defectors living in China and those currently detained in Chinese prisons. While the authorities will send back defectors in batches, detained defectors are likely to be sent back first. The police will then begin mounting raids to arrest and repatriate other defectors living in China.
The source explained that some defectors with strong Chinese language skills are considering fleeing to places where they can lay low and conceal their defector identities for the time being.
“Even if you speak Chinese well and can hide the fact that you’re a defector for a little while, there’s no way to keep it a secret in the long run. Still, right now many defectors feel that they don’t have any other choice, so they are planning to leave [and go somewhere where people don’t know they are North Korean].”
In fact, members of a message chat room created by a group of recent defectors are frequently leaving the group without warning, which shows the sense of the fear gripping the community, the source said.
Many defectors under a great deal of stress due to rumors
Chinese police are also fining Chinese men for illegally living with female North Korean defectors, which has only heightened fears among the defector community. Many say that they have been under immense stress and cannot sleep for fear they might suddenly be arrested.
One defector living in China told Daily NK that “I try to reassure myself that the rumors are simply rumors, but I am only getting more anxious and my heart keeps pounding so much that I can’t sleep at night. Just that one word – repatriation – is so awful that just hearing it makes my whole body shake and my hair stand up on end.”
Another defector shared a similar story. “I was sent to prison once after trying to escape to South Korea, so now if someone comes into my house without knocking, I immediately hide myself without even trying to see who it is. Now that these terrifying rumors of surprise arrests and repatriations are going around, I can never relax and I don’t know what to do.”
The majority of North Korean defectors in China are in the country illegally, so rumors of repatriations cause stress and fear.
“Defectors are already living uncertain lives as it is, so when these terrifying rumors circulate constantly, it makes them even more uneasy. It makes you wish that South Korea would just send a plane here to pick up all the defectors and take them away,” the source told Daily NK.
Translated by Rose Adams. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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