From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:
A United Nations envoy says China must take a more humane approach towards North Korean refugees and stop forcing them to return home.
Vitit Muntarbhorn, the UN spokesman on human rights in North Korea, says the international community should lean on China to uphold its legal obligations.
As China is a party to the International Refugee Convention, it “should be supported well to implement its obligations under that convention,” he said.
In an opinion piece titled “Help the refugees who reach China,” in the International Herald Tribune, Joel R. Charny writes:
China is likely to continue rejecting UNHCR involvement in what the government claims is an internal matter. But there are still steps the Chinese could take, from halting the deportations of North Koreans to granting legal residence for spouses of Chinese citizens and their children. China could go further and grant North Koreans indefinite humanitarian status and provide them with a special resident visa if they have employment and shelter.
 
China is unlikely to take these minimum steps unless concerned countries pursue a more serious and persistent diplomatic strategy with Beijing.
 
