Release International

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has again challenged China about its harsh policies towards North Korean defectors seeking sanctuary.

On his first visit to China for nearly 10 years, Antonio Guterres urged Beijing not to consider North Koreans as merely illegal economic migrants, as it does currently.

Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans are believed to be in hiding in north-east China, and live in fear of being repatriated by the Chinese authorities. The UN has long tried to persuade China that most North Korean defectors should be considered 'refugees' and treated with compassion.

Meanwhile, five North Koreans are reported to have escaped to South Korea in a small fishing boat, slipping across one of the world's most heavily fortified borders.

The group -- four of whom are thought to be from the same family -- were found adrift in South Korean waters on March 18. The BBC reports that they had set sail from the North Korean port of Tongchon the previous day, on the pretence that they were going fishing.

They struck a rock and drifted until South Korean vessels off the east coast of the peninsula picked them up. They are currently being questioned by military and intelligence officials, and have applied for asylum.
More than 1,000 North Koreans flee to South Korea every year, usually through Chinese territory, according to the BBC.

• Pray that China would respond to continued pressure for it to reconsider its policy of repatriating North Korean defectors found in its territory.
• Pray for the five North Koreans who managed to escape to South Korea in a fishing boat. Pray that they would be granted asylum and the opportunity to rebuild their lives away from Kim Jong-il's crushing regime.

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