[Prayer] May the Vicious Cycle of Excessive Surveillance and Forced Repatriation Be Broken

The report China’s Policies on Undocumented Foreigners and the Digital Surveillance System, published by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), points out that the Chinese government is collecting biometric information such as faces, fingerprints, irises, and DNA from North Korean defectors to use in its digital surveillance system. By strengthening the identification and control mechanisms for defectors in China, the government is increasing the risk of forced repatriation. It is analyzed that 29.4% of North Korean defectors who stayed in China between 2013 and 2025 experienced biometric data registration, which is seen as part of the intensified management policy for undocumented foreigners following COVID-19.

"The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love."

Psalm 103:6, 8

We lift up the North Korean defectors in China who are oppressed and cowed by surveillance. May the vicious cycle of oppressive and excessive surveillance and forced repatriation be broken, and may their human rights and lives be respected. We pray that God will restrain the hands of wicked powers so that the surveillance authority in China can no longer oppress the weak, and lead the way for injustice to be revealed.

In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.