NGO officials have requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to investigate the condition of North Korean refugees in China.

NGO officials from Korea, Japan and the United States said North Korean refugees in China are being arrested by the Chinese government and being sent back to North Korea where they are tortured for fleeing the North. In a joint press conference held in Tokyo, Wednesday, the officials demanded a detailed inspection of the brutalities committed on North Korean refugees and pressed the Chinese government to treat them in a humane way.

A Korean official also demanded the Chinese government to release a Korean university student who has been arrested for supporting the North Korean refugees.

The number of North Koreans fleeing the communist North has been increasing in the recent years.