Seven North Korean escapees who were arrested late last month in China are reportedly being held at a detention center in Anshan city in Liaoning Province. 

According to the Voice of America on Wednesday, Kim Seong-eun, the head of Caleb Mission, which supports North Korean defectors, said the escapees include an 18-year-old man and his nine-year-old niece.

He also presented pictures of some of them as well as the facility.   

Kim claimed the young man attempted suicide on Monday as he pleaded for his niece to be saved.  

Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Tuesday that China should not send the seven people back to the North where they would face torture, sexual violence, forced labor and other horrors, adding that Beijing should immediately allow them to travel to a third country.

[Photo : KBS News]