Raise Them Up from Isolation: Breaking Free from Social Confinement

Not Welcomed

Safety for refugees in China is to minimize contact. The majority do not have family in China. Neighbors can’t be trusted. The police are a threat to their livelihood. As a result, North Koreans in China stay confined to their homes.

North Koreans living in China not only bear the stigma of living as a refugee, they live in a country that is foreign and hostile to them. There is no protection by the Chinese government for refugees, even for those who fled an oppressive country like North Korea. Rather, the government encourages the reporting, arresting and repatriating of refugees back to Kim Jong Un’s regime. North Koreans in China are a stateless people and not welcomed.

Trafficked

Most escapees from North Korea are women who once served as the primary breadwinner of their households. They sought China as an opportunity to earn money to send back to their families to survive or pay for passage out of North Korea. But en route to their own escape, many fall victim to trafficking by opportunistic brokers at the Chinese border. North Korean women are deceived by would-be “good Samaritans” only to be trafficked to Chinese men and families. Many are abused during and after their sale. These women will bear these scars and shame for the rest of their lives. Social confinement is their means of hiding the past.

Impoverished

The other driving force behind their social isolation is poverty. As we covered in the first part of our education series, trafficked North Korean refugees alack access and opportunity in China and most live in poverty. Poverty is generally known to drive down confidence and participation, especially in women and girls. Those struggling with poverty self-isolate as a way to avoid judgement from others.

The confluence of these forces makes isolation the only option for many North Korean refugees.

Restoration

We seek the restoration of refugees and their children in our work.

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:2

The apostle Paul encourages those in the church to carry each other's burdens. Life is already taxing for North Korean refugees. Imagine how much greater the burden when they have to shoulder it on their own. 

Underground churches and field workers in our China network welcome refugees with refuge and rest. Most have been conned, abused or neglected. Many have lived completely void of social interaction. When introduced and integrated into communities of other North Koreans refugees who speak the same language and have walked a similar road, emotional healing begins in many refugees. Life is meant to be lived together and isolation can be a silent killer.

Self worth

One’s self esteem is sourced both from internal (abilities, performance of good deeds, independence) and external (peer approval, contribution to those around us) factors. Barred from access and opportunity, it is difficult for any person to maintain a sense of self worth. Unable to escape this stigma, many refugees and their children we encounter live each day burdened with guilt, shame and bouts of depression.

We may take for granted opportunities to work or access to education. These are privileges we wish we could provide for all of our refugees and their families. While turning that into a reality in China is generally difficult, we have seen refugees and their children thrive when given access to school and work opportunities.

Who you say I am

Access and community are both crucial to North Koreans living in China. As important as these may be for refugees to fight poverty and isolation, there is greater work to be done in their souls.

 ”Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; 
instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; 
therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; 
they shall have everlasting joy. 
Isaiah 61:7

These are promises God made to the Jews returning out of captivity. These same promises, through grace, extend to all followers of Jesus today. This is the greatest good we can pray for for North Korean refugees and their children. We pray that by calling upon the name of Jesus, He would replace their shame and dishonor with peace and everlasting joy! How great our God is and how true His promises.

Please pray for North Koreans living in China under these conditions. Would you also pray about providing education for our refugees and their children through our upcoming Giving Tuesday campaign?

China’s Hukou System: Perpetuating the Cycle of Poverty

Without outside help, the hukou system locks North Korean refugees and their children in generational cycles of poverty. Learn more from the infographic below and see how you can help end this cycle on Giving Tuesday.

This Giving Tuesday, we want to help break the cycle of poverty for many North Korean refugees and their children in China.

Raise Them Up Through Education: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

Our hearts yearn to help North Korean refugees and their families. Some take the precarious journey to southeast Asia for a chance at asylum in South Korea. However, most will choose to stay and live in China, where access is limited. Through education, we want to empower refugees and their children to break out of poverty SO THAT the next generation might do far more and reach many more North Koreans than we are able to do as foreigners. 

Education is the focus of this Giving Tuesday

Cycle of poverty as described by World Vision:

“The cycle of poverty begins when a child is born into a poor family. These families often have limited or no resources to create opportunities to advance themselves, which leaves them stuck in the poverty trap.”

This is the unfortunate predicament many North Korean refugees find themselves in while surviving in China. The problem is both geographic and legal. It is almost impossible to break out of without outside intervention.

No rights, no access

Most refugees are women who have been trafficked and sold into Chinese families or to Chinese men as wives. They usually end up in rural areas married to men who work as farmers. Many refugees in Crossing Borders’ network are forced to marry men with significant disabilities. By law, refugees do not have the right to work, and more importantly, working in a public setting exposes them to arrest and repatriation into North Korea. But out of necessity, some women work for cash in small restaurants and farms. These are not people of financial means.

Geographic challenges

Rapid urbanization in China grew its urban population from 30% (of China’s total population) in 1994 to double that (60%) in 2019. Mass internal migration has caused income disparity that continues to grow today. While urban areas gain more access and advantages, rural areas of China receive diminishing education resources (ie. less qualified teachers) and offer fewer economic opportunities. As urban migration has grown in the past few decades, more and more rural primary schools have also been forced to close.

Hukou status

The hukou system is China’s governmental household registration system. Chinese citizens have either urban or rural hukou and, as expected, urban hukou generally provides more public service and welfare than rural hukou. According to the website China Briefing, “those holding rural hukou are distributed arable land for their livelihood while urban hukou holders have access to government jobs, subsidized housing, education, and healthcare.”

Hukou is also inherited, meaning the child of rural hukou parents will inherit the same status. One’s hukou status also determines access to schools. Parents who choose to move to cities for work often leave their children in their rural hometowns with relatives because urban schools prioritize children with urban hukou. This has long term implications into college and the future of their careers. The hukou system creates a massive chasm between the urban and the rural. 

See more on our Hukou system infographic

Teach young people

“to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth” - Proverbs 1:4

Proverbs speaks to the benefits of teaching and passing wisdom to the younger generation. They need knowledge, discipline and to become knowledgeable of both the divine things and worldly things. This is Crossing Borders’ desire for these  people and an integral part of our mission to sow into the children of North Korean refugees. We want to prepare them for better access in China through education and for eternity with the Gospel.

To have a fighting chance at a better education, Crossing Borders currently provides for children of refugees to get educated in cities with better schools, which is often far from their parents. We also provide access to tutors and school supplies for many others. By God’s grace and with your support, several kids are currently attending college in China.

Akin to many Asian education systems, the objective of pre-college education is to score well on the college entrance exam, known as gaokao in China. But rural students must far outperform their urban counterparts as urban universities heavily prioritize urban hukou students. Whether they stay in their rural hometowns or aspire for urban schools, these children face a constant uphill battle due to their rural hukou status.

Learning a trade

Technical training is another means for both refugees and their children to earn a living and become self sufficient. When college is not an option, children often desire to receive technical training at trade schools or via an apprenticeship. This, too, requires money, access to schools and mentors. We have heard from refugees who want to sell street food or make money cutting hair but don’t know where or how to receive the necessary training. Crossing Borders provides financial aid to give refugees and their children technical training from trusted resources.

The children of rural China already have a tall mountain to climb. At a greater disadvantage, the children of North Korean refugees with rural hukou are destined to continue the cycle of poverty they grow up in.  Without help, North Korean refugees are not able to provide opportunities for their children to break the cycle. And without ongoing support for their kids through college or trade school, the cycle of poverty will persist for generations.

This is why we feel like God placed education on our hearts for Giving Tuesday. We want to empower refugees to earn a living and their children to have the tools and opportunities to break out of the cycle of poverty. May God’s provision and grace give them that chance.

this campaign to financially support education will go live on Giving Tuesday, December 1 and run through December 31.

Our goal is to raise $24,000, which will fund education for the next two years.

Please pray for North Koreans living in China under these conditions. Would you also pray about providing education for our refugees and their children?

Learn more about the crippling effect of China’s hukou system in our latest infographic:

Winning minds in North Koreas

FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2012 file photo, Park Sang Hak, a refugee from the North Korea who now runs the group Fighters for a Free North Korea from a small Seoul office, hurls anti-North Korea leaflets as police block his planned rally on a road in Paju near demilitarized zone, South Korea. In South Korea, political activists send thousands of leaflets, DVDs and flash drives every year across the border into North Korea, mostly by balloon, hoping to bring to the isolated country. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

Often called the “Hermit Kingdom,” North Korea is infamously restrictive on outside information breaching the physical and electronic barriers of its borders. Whereas state-funded propaganda is widespread, other information can be difficult to access.

However, through activist efforts to send leaflets containing news, satire, or even soap operas, air-dropped balloons have been drifting across the border into the hands of North Koreans.

"The quickest way to bring down the regime is to change people's minds," said Park Sang Hak, a refugee from the North who now runs the group Fighters for a Free North Korea from a small Seoul office, sending tens of thousands of plastic fliers across the border every year. 

Park and the other self-proclaimed warriors in the “information war” have noted that this spread of information can have small but meaningful impacts.

Lee, another activist-balloonist who prints card-sized leaflets with his contact information and how he was once “one of them,” aims to open even just a few eyes to the mythology North Koreans often hear from the ruling family.  

"Maybe one person rebels after reading the leaflets,” he said. "Maybe one person defects. I want them to decide for themselves what to do."

Scholars, however, agree with North Korean refugees who say that the information filtering through has “helped bring a wealth of changes, from new slang to changing fashions to increasing demand for consumer goods in the expanding market economy.”

Read the full story here

Raising North Korean Orphans - Planning for the Future

"Byung Wook" was at home when his mother was dragged away by the police. He said he heard the police raid the home but was too afraid to come out of his room. When he came out the next morning, his mother was gone and his father was sitting on the floor in shock. This is how Byung Wook became a North Korean orphan. Byung Wook came to one of our group homes in 2009 and has struggled academically more than any other child in our network. His performance in school was so bad that his teachers refused to give him any tests to prevent him from bringing down the class average. They put little effort to bring Byung Wook up to speed in his studies and he spends most of his time in class sleeping.

Such is the challenge of raising an academically challenged child in China, where opportunities are harder to come by and it is harder to catch up if a child is behind.

Last year Crossing Borders received sobering results from the surveys we administered. One of the biggest things we learned was that our North Korean orphans are ill prepared for the future. Just 20 percent of our children have a realistic career plan with short, mid and long-term steps on how they will reach these goals.

This is something we can help with.

As our North Korean orphans grow into maturity, it is vital that we equip them with the tools they need to be self-sufficient. The average age of our children is now 12.5-years-old.

Thinking about career paths poses a challenge for our field staff, most of whom have been raised in a rural environment. It is difficult for them to see the importance of getting the right training to suit the type of career each child wants.

China is rapidly changing. Over the past 30 years the economy has shifted from a mostly agrarian economy to one that is highly industrialized. This means that the old way of obtaining and finding employment has been upended. Our workers need to be able to adjust so that our children can find meaningful employment and even be a benefit to the community at large.

It is also difficult for them to think about such things as they deal with the daily needs of the children. This is why we feel that it is vital for us to educate our caretakers and give them practical tools to help each child become productive members of society.

By the end of this year, we want to work with each child age 14 and older to have a clear and attainable career path. We will also work with their caretakers to make sure these plans are practical in the context in which each of these children live.

This is why we believe that it is necessary to deal with the challenges North Korean orphans face from an organizational standpoint. While our caretakers provide a stable, loving and nurturing environment for each child, Crossing Borders can come alongside these caretakers to provide additional help.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. It is a unique “village” that Crossing Borders has created. We connect donors from around the world with experts both in the U.S. and around the world to provide the love and care that each of these children need.

You can be a part of this community of help by sponsoring a child. Through our Child Sponsorship Program, you can donate $40 or $80 per month to provide for the needs of children in our network. Find out more here.