Mailed to UNHCR Japan
January 22, 2003

Dear Mr. Kasidis Rochanakorn,

A large group of North Korean refugees were arrested on January 18 in Yantai of Shandong Province and other places in China. The list below gives information on 13 of these refugees. Their arrest by Chinese authorities has placed them in immediate danger of being repatriated to North Korea under a protocol between China and North Korea signed in 1986.

China is a signatory nation of the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and the international community expects China to respect this international agreement.

Our Tokyo-based NGO, Life Funds for North Korean Refugees, urgently request you and the UNHCR Office to take prompt action to protect these people under the UN Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.

We received information that 58 were arrested, according to counts by our own people. However, the Chinese authorities claim 78 arrests.

The following is the basic profile of the thirteen we currently acknowledge.

Sincerely,

Nakadaira Kenkichi
         Representative
         Life Funds for North Korean Refugees
         nkkikin@hotmail.com
         A101 2-2-8 Nishikata
         Bunkyo-Ku Tokyo
         113-0024,Japan

(Profile is omitted in this attachment)

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