North Koreans arrested by China while trying to escape...

North Koreans arrested by China while trying to escape by boat are likely to be jailed and could face death, their supporters said as Beijing warned aid groups away from helping the refugees. Sixty people, including a 90-year-old and a two-year-old child, were detained between January 18 and 19 as they prepared to board two vessels bound for South Korea and Japan at Yantai in northern China's Shandong province, representatives from six non-governmental organizations (NGOs) told a press conference in Tokyo. Another 18 refugees standing by for a chance to leave were also arrested as were two South Koreans, an aid worker and freelance photojournalist, the activists said. "Seventy eight North Korean refugees, one activist and one photographer are under custody and will be quickly repatriated according to Chinese TV," said Douglas Shin, founder of the Los Angeles-based Korean Peninsula Peace Project, "I urge China not to be so rash. I urge all governments in Washington, Tokyo, Paris or London not to let this violation of international laws be committed." The Chinese foreign ministry confirmed the incident but refused to divulge details about their fate, warning Beijing will not tolerate overseas groups or citizens trying to help the North Koreans. "These organizations' actions violate China's laws and harm social stability. These actions are illegal in China and any country should fight against them," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue.Chun Kin-Won of the Christian advocacy Durihana Mission, who spent 220 days in Chinese jails in 2002 for helping North Koreans escape, told reporters in Tokyo the repatriated refugees were unlikely to experience even a semblance of justice in their homeland. "Currently repression has been stiffened up; there is no trial, no legal procedures before they are sent to internment camps," Chun said. Norbert Vollertsen, a German doctor who has publicized numerous asylum bids by North Koreans, said those captured possibly faced execution. "Maybe all of the 78 will face the death penalty because North Korea says that a citizen who defects to another country should be given the death penalty," he said. The NGO representatives were extremely concerned about the refugees and said they had appealed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in Beijing for protection. Since the summer of 2002, China has engaged in a crackdown on the refugees regarded by Beijing as economic migrants, they said. "Eighty percent of the (support) networks have collapsed. All the Chinese and foreign aid workers have been arrested and some are still in prison," said Medecins Sans Frontieres spokeswoman Marine Buissonniere. "Every day our networks get appeals from North Korean refugees in China asking us to get them out of there." Chun warned that despite the risks, the number of North Korean refugees in China would continue to grow "because the food situation (in North Korea) is getting worse and worse."