Border police in China's northeast have been given quotas to identify and expel undocumented migrants — one key aspect of broader surveillance that is making it harder for North Korean defectors to evade capture, according to previously undisclosed official documents and a dozen people familiar with the matter.
China has implemented new deportation centers, hundreds of smart facial-recognition cameras and extra boat patrols along its 1,400-kilometer frontier with North Korea, according to a review of more than 100 publicly available government documents that outline spending on border surveillance and infrastructure.
In addition, Chinese police have begun to closely monitor the social media accounts of North Koreans in China, and collect their fingerprints, voice and facial data, four defectors and two missionaries have said.
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