Pictured above: Tim Peters believes it's outrageous that China is forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees to torture and imprisonment (photo: Johannes Morken/Stefanusalliancen).
I asked Tim Peters, Project Officer at the Danish European Mission, why China is doing this. Based in South Korea, he is involved in organizing the 'Asia Underground Railway', where North Koreans are helped from China to safe third countries in Southeast Asia.
Why are North Koreans fleeing?
You can identify two reasons: they are starving for food and they are starving for freedom. Curiously, this is the same formulation Trump has used about the recent demonstrations in Iran, but the difference is that the situation in North Korea is much worse. For example, a UN report from March 2017 states that 41 % of the population is malnourished and the healthcare system has essentially collapsed.
Desperation among ordinary people is very high in North Korea and has been for decades. For 75-80 % of the population, feeding their families is the most pressing issue in their daily lives, especially as the North Korean government has been unable to secure public food supplies. Only very slowly are small local market economy systems, where food is grown on private plots of land, replacing the old system. 
Pictured right: Some North Koreans flee as the public food supply is insufficient and they
can't always grow enough food on their small private plots (photo: Attjalandi/Shutterstock.com).
However, not everyone is equally successful at growing their own food, and some start trading illegally with China to supplement family income. For example, North Koreans sell nutritious herbs and roots to Chinese businessmen in exchange for processed food and electronics that North Koreans can sell at markets and make money. This can lead to imprisonment, causing outrage as the government punishes citizens for simply wanting to earn money to put food on the table.
Why is China repatriating North Korean refugees?
The main reason China labels anyone crossing the border from North Korea as "illegal economic migrants" and forcibly repatriates them is that China does not want to destabilize the North Korean government and risk its collapse by opening its borders to refugees. Most observers agree that open borders with China would cause a flood of defectors, potentially destabilizing Kim Jong-un's government in Pyongyang. China clearly prefers a like-minded communist government in North Korea to a reunified, democratically-ruled Korea. So China continues to forcibly repatriate refugees for imprisonment, torture and in some cases execution or even forced abortions on pregnant women carrying a Chinese child.
The Chinese authorities have always forcibly repatriated North Koreans, which is against international law. It is not recognized that they can be refugees, even though China is on the UN Security Council and has signed the UN Refugee Convention. The UN Human Rights Commission is not allowed near China's border with North Korea where they can ask North Koreans whether they are refugees or not. This behavior by China is clearly outrageous, as the majority of North Koreans are indeed refugees.
North Koreans are terrified of being forcibly repatriated. The consequences can vary, but all returnees are interrogated and put through tough interrogations by the border police and security services. If the person is found to have traveled before, it is very likely that they will be sentenced to six months, a year or longer in prison. If it is discovered that a North Korean wanted to go to South Korea and came into contact with South Korean Christians in China and the fugitive admits it or the Chinese police report it to the North Korean authorities, the punishment is much higher as North Korea sees Christians as traitors, just as Christians were considered traitors to Caesar in the Roman Empire. They are treated very brutally as the regime believes they have been disloyal to the Kim family.
Books have been published, documenting numerous examples of violent abuse and punishment in prisons. Exposes All prisoners in Nordkoreas prisons for this treatment?
In some cases, repatriated North Koreans escape punishment if there is no room in the prisons. I don't want to exaggerate the consequences of being sent back, but since Kim Jong-un came to power, prison sentences are said to have become more severe as he knows that many want to leave the country. Family members of refugees can also be punished, not necessarily all, but at least they come under increased surveillance and police monitor whether refugee family members in China communicate with them and send money. Relatives of refugees can even be sent to prison.
In prisons, prisoners are often given very little corn soup while working 10-12 hours a day, so family members are expected to feed them. In some cases, the family is so poor that they cannot bring food to the prison and if this continues, it is not uncommon for prisoners to die.
How do Christians help The vulnerable refugees in China with support from the Danish European Missions donors?
Through a network of churches and missionaries, refugees are protected and helped to survive once they cross the border. Women who have been sold by traffickers to Chinese men as spouses are particularly vulnerable. Some of these women are only teenagers when they flee, have no documents, and are vulnerable to traffickers' manipulation.
What spiritual help can local Christians provide?
The refugees say that the missionaries introduce them to the gospel, and for most of them it is the very first time they hear anything positive about the God of the Bible and Jesus Christ, as the Christian faith is always emphasized in North Korean propaganda as an imperialistic trick of the West. It is portrayed as part of a conspiracy to turn people away from socialism. North Koreans have heard that Christian missionaries are wolves, so North Koreans are skeptical when they hear the gospel. They don't know that behind these Asian Christians who help them escape to safe third world countries and show them God's love are Christians in Danmark who support the work of the Danish European Mission.
I have seen North Koreans become very wholehearted Christians when they receive the Gospel. They hunger for love, care and forgiveness, and maybe that's why they respond in a very meaningful way when they experience God's love.
