Information on penalties for "ship-jumping" in a foreign port and whether that penalty is enforced, additional to that found in CHN13414 of 10 March 1993 is scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

According to a 1994 Country Profile by the Country Information Service (CIS) of the Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA), there is both a broad range in the punishments attached to ship-jumping, and a general lack of uniformity. The report does state that factors that may affect the degree of penalty include the person's rank (i.e. whether they were ship's officers), the person's local work unit, whether the person had a record of dissident activity and the general political climate of the time. The punishments described in the report include inhibited career advancement for voluntary returnees and detention for education-through-labour for persons with a record of dissident activities.

More recent information concerning the penalties for "ship-jumping" in a foreign port and whether that penalty is enforced, additional to that found in CHN13414 of 10 March 1993, could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Response.

Country Information Service (CIS), Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA), Canberra, Australia. 1994. "Country Profile." (CISNET)

Two oral sources did not provide information on the topic requested.

Electronic sources: IRB Databases, Internet, CISNET, LEXIS/NEXIS, WNC.