At Nordic Right, we are committed to advocating for and upholding human rights across the Nordic Region and beyond. Today, we raise our voice to express our deep concern about the resumption of forcible returns of North Koreans detained in the People’s Republic of China to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea). This alarming development comes after a pause since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Our concern is heightened by recent reports indicating the reopening of North Korea’s borders for approximately 200 athletes, coaches, and officials who are set to attend the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, scheduled to take place from September 23 to October 8, 2023. Additionally, we are troubled by the Chinese government’s resumption of forcible repatriations, which have reportedly affected around 2,000 North Koreans detained in China.
It is important to recall the findings of the 2014 United Nations Commission of Inquiry on human rights in the DPRK (DPRK COI), which determined that the North Korean government had committed crimes against humanity against individuals forcibly repatriated from China. These individuals face a dire risk of torture, sexual and gender-based violence, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, execution, forced abortion, and infanticide upon their forcible return.
China, as a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention and Protocol, as well as the Convention against Torture, is obligated to adhere to the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the forced return of individuals to situations where their safety and human rights are at risk. However, China continues to detain North Korean escapees, awaiting the reopening of North Korea’s border to forcibly return them, despite the absence of evidence indicating improved treatment for these individuals in North Korea.
The DPRK COI recommended that “China and other States” respect the principle of non-refoulement and abstain from forcibly repatriating any persons to North Korea until there is a verified improvement in their treatment, monitored by international human rights organizations. Unfortunately, no such improvement has been documented to date.
China’s policy and practice of forced repatriation of North Koreans have persisted, even during the Covid-19 pandemic. Numerous UN Special Procedures and treaty bodies, including the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Committee against Torture, have consistently called on China to respect the principle of non-refoulement for North Korean escapees.
Despite China’s claims to address North Korean escapees in accordance with domestic and international law, it has failed to establish a proper screening process for North Korean asylum seekers or provide them with temporary identity certificates, as required by its own laws.
Nordic Rights firmly believes that humanitarian considerations should lead to the granting of legal status to North Korean escapees and the cessation of their deportations to North Korea, where they face unimaginable suffering, including torture, sexual and gender-based violence, forced abortion, brutal labor camps, and execution.
We note that in 2004, the UN Refugee Agency categorized North Korean escapees in China as “persons of concern” deserving humanitarian protection, and it repeatedly called for safeguards against refoulement.
In light of the official slogan of the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, “Heart to Heart, Future,” we call upon the international community and the Chinese government to heed the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “we will not only win our freedom for ourselves, we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.”
Therefore, we urgently urge China to officially end the policy of forcible repatriation of North Korean escapees and to implement a procedure for the individualized determination of refugee status. It is time to act in the spirit of human rights, compassion, and solidarity.
