Burmese authorities have sent 19 North Koreans, arrested while trying to defect to South Korea across the Thai border, to Thai’s Chiang Rai province, where Thai authorities have now re-arrested three of them, Radio Free Asia said Friday.

The 19 North Korean refugees were fleeing poverty and repression in North Korea and trying to reach South Korea through China and Southeast Asia, when they were intercepted by Burmese authorities on Dec. 2.

Some human rights advocates, well-placed to comment on the situation, told RFA said Burmese authorities felt pressured to release the North Koreans instead of trying them, and instead moved them to the region where they were initially arrested _ sending them across the border to Thailand, their intended country of transit en route to the apparent final destination, South Korea.

"The North Korean refugees arrived in Thailand and right away surrendered to the Thai authorities," a Thai immigration official said. "They were asking for political asylum in South Korea."

"The South Korean embassy in Bangkok would have to notify us that their asylum applications were accepted, and then there must be an NGO group to give these refugees further assistance to reach their goal."

Thousands of people have fled North Korea in recent years, citing hunger and harsh political oppression. Many escape taking a risky land journey through China to Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries before seeking asylum in South Korea, now home to nearly 14,000 North Korean defectors.