Legal Framework
The People’s Republic of China ratified both the 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees and its complement, the 1967 Protocol relating to the status of refugees, though first relatively late in 1982. The right to asylum on the grounds of political persecution is set in the Chinese constitution. In practice, however, the implementation up to this point has been made difficult due to the lack of detailed provisions. Provisions for subsidiary and humanitarian protection do not exist. There is neither a national asylum law nor any corresponding state institutions. Refugees and asylum seekers in China are thus dependent on the support of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) which has had an office in Beijing since 1980 and acts as a spokesperson for refugees and asylum seekers to the Chinese government.
Refugee Flow
The number of refugees in China is growing annually by about 0.1 percent. In the middle of 2013, 301,068 recognized refugees and 289 asylum seekers lived in the country. The majority of refugees were Vietnamese citizens. After the Sino-Vietnam War of 1979, 300,000 ethnic Chinese, the majority of whom had Vietnamese citizenship, were repatriated back to China and recognized there as refugees. They are on equal terms with Chinese citizens.
Every year 100 to 150 people submit an asylum application to UNHCR in Beijing. Most people come from Somalia, Iraq and Pakistan. A readmission agreement made between China and North Korea caused quite an international sensation. In it China agreed to return North Korean asylum seekers back to North Korea, categorizing them as “economic migrants“ that illegally enter China. North Korean asylum seekers who are married to a Chinese citizen and have children obtain a residence permit in some villages. The villages that have implemented these regulations are mainly located, however, in China’s interior and western parts, less so in the northeast near the North Korean border. This example also shows how differently actors at the local level use their room for maneuver in implementing national standards.
Reforms
The reform of the Entry Law for Aliens in July, 2013 also affected the regulation of entry for refugees. Asylum seekers will, for instance, receive an identity card which allows them to reside legally in China until a decision on their asylum application is made.
This text is part of the Interner Link: country profile China.