GENEVA – Three years after the reported resumption of large-scale forcible returns of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) nationals from China, serious concerns persist regarding the fate, whereabouts and treatment of those repatriated, and individuals who remain at risk of return, UN experts* said today.
“These events form part of a longstanding pattern of serious human rights violations against individuals forcibly returned to the DPRK. In the absence of independent monitoring in either country, many returnees remain unaccounted for,” the experts said.
“For as long as their fate and whereabouts remain unknown, returnees are deprived of essential safeguards against enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, execution, torture, forced labour, sexual and gender-based violence and other serious human rights violations,” the experts said.
Reports indicate that some women who left the DPRK became victims of trafficking, forced marriage and sexual exploitation. Among them is Kim Cheol-ok, who reportedly fled the DPRK during the 1990s famine and was trafficked into China as a child. Forced into marriage at 14, she was subjected to sexual violence and forced pregnancy. Despite living in China for about 25 years and establishing family ties, she reportedly faced harassment and restrictions due to her irregular status. Detained by Chinese authorities in April 2023 without access to legal representation, she was forcibly returned in October 2023. Her fate and whereabouts remain unknown. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that her detention by China and the DPRK was arbitrary.
Since large-scale returns to the DPRK reportedly resumed in 2023, reports have emerged of serious human rights violations against returnees, particularly those perceived as having sought asylum or who left the country without authorisation, raising concerns under the principle of non-refoulement.
“Irregular migration status does not diminish the obligation to respect the principle of non-refoulement,” the experts said. “Given longstanding evidence that DPRK nationals who leave the country without authorisation, or seek protection abroad, may face severe punishment upon return, the reported mass return of DPRK nationals despite well-documented protection concerns raises questions about whether their protection needs were adequately assessed before repatriation.”
“Persistent obstacles continue to impede efforts to obtain information regarding the fate, whereabouts, and treatment of individuals returned, including in political prison camps, as well as those who remain at risk of forcible return from China,” the experts said.
The experts called on Chinese authorities to respect the principle of non-refoulement, refrain from returning DPRK nationals to situations where they face a real risk of serious human rights violations and ensure access to fair and effective procedures for assessing their international protection needs. They also called on the DPRK authorities to disclose the fate and whereabouts of returnees and ensure their protection.
