Dear President Hu Jintao,
The international community continues to watch in horror as
the Chinese government tracks down and deports North Korean refugees
in advance of the upcoming Beijing Olympics. This practice is
a stain on the face of China. We urge you to immediately cease
arresting and repatriating North Korean refugees.
It is no secret that every year for more than
a decade, tens of thousands of North Korean defectors have fled
to China seeking
refuge. But despite the protests of the international community,
the Chinese government has turned a deaf ear to requests that
your government immediately cease its repatriation of North Korean
refugees and to stop arresting the aid workers seeking to help
those refugees.
It is also no secret that a shocking number of North Korean
women are victimized by human trafficking in China. Even when
such women marry Chinese men and bear children, a high percentage
are eventually arrested and returned to North Korea. Children
born in these marriages are denied Chinese nationality, and as
a result, are refused education. The Chinese government has a
record of depriving those children of their mothers, and then
denying them basic human rights.
These policies are not only cruel and unfeeling, they violate
the Convention on Refugees, of which your country is a signatory
nation. Such actions are China's shame; the entire international
community is witness to your country's dishonor.
I strongly urge your government to immediately
halt the arrest, detention or repatriation of
North
Korean
refugees and protect them in your country under
the open supervision of UNHCR or other related international
organization; Assure them safe passage to a third country
if they so request.
China must also immediately grant
Chinese nationality to any North Korean defector
who marries a Chinese citizen and to any children born
of such union;
Permit both mother and child to settle in China.
(Your Signature)
