Every year thousands of North Koreans illegally cross into China to escape the abject poverty and oppression that is endemic in their home country, and many are captured by Chinese authorities and returned to their homeland where they face harsh repercussions. To avoid culpability under international law, China maintains that the North Koreans are not refugees but rather "economic migrants," and that therefore they do not qualify for protection under the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. This paper examines this argument and concludes that it is invalid. © 2011 McFarland & Company, Inc.

classification China United Nations economic migrant Asylum Convention Repatriation Refugees refoulement Torture

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