NORTH KOREANS were also victims of the mainland's harsh Strike Hard campaign directed by Politburo member Luo Gan last year. Across the northeast, police were given quotas for arrests, expulsions and fines, and those who missed the targets were fired or their pay was docked.
The Strike Hard campaign, originally focusing on organised crime, was redirected against religions such as the Falun Gong or Christians helping North Korean refugees. Along the border with North Korea, the campaign was widened to deal with the whole North Korean refugee problem. Many refugees are accused of theft, and even murder.
Police put up posters saying it was the duty of all Chinese people to arrest and denounce the refugees.
'It was like something from the Cultural Revolution,' said Fiona Terry, director of research at Medecins Sans Frontieres in Paris.
Those caught helping the refugees were severely punished, with prison terms and fines running to over 30,000 yuan (HK$28,300).
The campaign was far more intense than any before it and climaxed last July and August with busloads of refugees forced back over the border daily.
