A/HRC/25/CRP.1 the ROK then sought to bring other family members and relatives to the ROK. Clandestine escape networks, some composed of humanitarian activists and others of professional people smugglers,496 emerged. DPRK citizens often moved from China via Mongolia to the ROK. Since 2007, the Mongolia route has effectively been closed because of tighter Chinese border controls there. Thereafter, DPRK citizens bound for the ROK usually proceed through Viet Nam, Laos or Cambodia to reach Thailand and from there the ROK.497 394. According to ROK official statistics, 26,028 persons who fled the DPRK have become ROK citizens as of November 2013. Of these, over 80 per cent came from the border regions, i.e. Hamgyong and Ryanggang provinces, and over 70 per cent were aged between 20 and 49. A steady increase has been seen in the number of women and family units among those who fled the DPRK, with women accounting for around 70 per cent of those resettled in the ROK. It is therefore also estimated that more than 70 per cent of those fleeing the DPRK are women, although a large number remain in China. Sizable numbers of DPRK citizens have been granted refugee or other permanent resident status in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Japan and other countries. 395. Since those who flee the DPRK generally reside clandestinely in China, it is very difficult to estimate how many DPRK citizens currently live there. While estimates vary greatly, there also seems to be fluctuation over time and a decline that coincided with the reassertion of control over the border, coupled with large numbers of forced repatriations from China in the later 2000s. 396. In 2005, the humanitarian organization Good Friends estimated that the number of DPRK citizens in the Chinese provinces along the DPRK border was 50,000. In 2006, the International Crisis Group estimated the number to be 100,000 based on interviews with local Chinese and Korean-Chinese interlocutors and other NGO reports. A 2010 survey, by Professor Courtland Robinson of Johns Hopkins University estimated the total number of DPRK citizens in the three north-eastern provinces of China to be 6,824, with an additional 7,829 children born to mothers from the DPRK. In 2013, KINU estimated the total number of DPRK nationals living in the three Chinese border provinces with an ethnic Korean population to be about 7,500 (at least 4,500 and less than 10,500) adults and 20,000 (at least 15,000 and less than 25,000) children in 2012.498 (c) Border control measures 397. Since 2009, there has been an apparent renewed push to seal the border, driven by both the DPRK and China. The latter was particularly concerned about inflows of undocumented migrants as well as drug trafficking originating from the DPRK. Fences and other barriers have been set up by both the DPRK and China along some stretches of the border, where crossings have most frequently occurred. In addition to obtaining witness 496 497 498 Note that people smugglers are not necessarily involved in the trafficking of persons. The latter requires the element of “exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs” at minimum. See the Palermo Protocol on this. EJH003. KINU, White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea (2013), pp. 44, 459-461. See also International Crisis Group, “Perilous Journey: The Plight of North Koreans in China and Beyond”, 26 October 2009. Available from http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/north-east-asia/north-korea/122perilous-journeys-the-plight-of-north-koreans-in-china-and-beyond.aspx. The approximate figure of 100,000 was also advanced by the humanitarian organization Life Funds for North Korean Refugees for 2007. Available from http://www.northkoreanrefugees.com/faq.html. 111