The police in Changchun, the capital of China’s Jilin Province, have announced plans to update the personal information of female North Korean defectors who are living with Chinese men. The announcement has made some defectors anxious becomes it follows the visit to North Korea by China’s No. 3 official Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.
“The police in Changchun said on Apr. 21 that they would be carrying out a hukou [household registration] survey through the end of May to update the personal information of all North Korean women who are currently cohabiting with Chinese men after entering China illegally. That is one of the new police policies for April that were announced by the provincial authorities,” a source in China told Daily NK on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to the source, the provincial police authorities said that female defectors need to update their current addresses, phone numbers and other important information and that when they get a new phone number for use in China, they need to register it at their local precinct station. The provincial authorities also said that the police should survey Chinese citizens who let defectors get SIM cards under their ID numbers.
Some defectors worried about forced repatriations to North Korea in the future
Relatedly, the Changchun police have already individually notified the Chinese men who are believed to be living with female defectors that precinct stations will be sending officers to visit their homes and that if time and circumstances permit, the men can also visit a precinct station themselves to update their girlfriends’ personal information.
Notably, the Changchun police explained that the purpose of updating the defectors’ personal information was to guarantee the safety of North Korean women in Changchun and to set up a system for responding quickly to any emergency situations. The police are apparently emphasizing the physical safety of female defectors in China.
But since this announcement by the police follows Zhao Leji’s visit to North Korea, female defectors are concerned that China may be taking preliminary steps to determine the number of North Korean defectors in the country with the ultimate goal of helping North Korea repatriate those defectors.
“North Korean women living in Changchun and some of their Chinese boyfriends who have been contacted by the police are afraid that the police may closely monitor [the defectors’] every move and then suddenly repatriate them at the request of the North Korean authorities,” the source said.
“Whenever I hear that a high-ranking Chinese official has visited North Korea, my heart begins to race,” the source quoted one female defector as saying.
“Some defectors are worried that the Chinese will one day decide to repatriate all the North Korean women whose personal information is on file. They’re already stocking up on poison because they’d rather die than be separated from their children in China,” the defector went on to say.
In apparent awareness of these fears, the Changchun police are promising defectors’ Chinese boyfriends that they will continue receiving support if they help the police update their records. The police also asked the Chinese men to reassure their girlfriends that the police just want a record of their latest phone numbers and photographs to make sure they match how the defectors currently look and that the women have nothing to worry about as long as they continue to stay out of trouble.
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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April 26, 2024 at 01:30PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)