MANILA, tribe 3 Kyodo Twenty-one ...

MANILA, tribe 3 Kyodo

Twenty-one North Korean asylum inquirers including three children, are being allowed transit by the agency of Manila on Wednesday on their way to Seoul diplomatic sources said Tuesday.

The defectors, 12 of whom are female, are look fored to arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at about 9:10 pm aboard China Southern Airlines Flight 377 from Xiamen. They sought expedient at the South Korean Embassy in Beijing last week.

There is no information onward how long the refugees will stay in the Philippines, on the other hand the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was assured at South Korean officials the refugee will take the first possible flight without the sources said.

The defectors have been labeled according to DFA officials as ''transit passengers'' and not asylum inquirers apparently to avoid strain in the Philippines' relations with North Korea. They will be quarantined at the NAIA transit area and will not be allowed to leave the premises while waiting for their flight to southerly Korea.

The Philippines is allowing the brief stopover for humanitarian reasons.

A total of 74 defectors, including the incoming dispose from North Korea have used Manila as a transit point since 1997

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