Human rights groups are alarmed by the situation of the North Korean refugees including women who are extremely vulnerable to being trafficked into forced marriages or prostitution, and are subjected to forced abortions, and babies born to repatriated women are killed in North Korea. They appealed to the Chinese government to dissuade the forced expulsion of refugees and allow their migration to South Korea or any other country safe for them.
In a statement, a former member of the Dutch parliament for the Christian Union, Joël Voordewind said that it is a known fact that the people living lives under the Kim Jong Un regime in the North suffer unspeakable atrocities and crimes against humanity which have led to over 33,000 persons to flee the country. He referred to a report produced by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) which concluded by describing the situation as “The gravity, scale, and nature of these violations reveal a State that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world.”
He demanded that the actors involved in committing crimes against humanity in North Korea must be brought to justice, including the sanctions against those most responsible. Moreover, the Chinese authorities should engage in dialogue with neighboring countries to foster enabling conditions for refugees, and must cooperate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in efforts to resettle North Korean refugees residing in China to other countries including South Korea.
The Chairperson of the Voice for Justice, Joseph Jansen said that North Korea nationals who enter China by crossing the border illegally to escape persecution and deprivation, and gain economic benefits, are entitled to international protection as refugees, therefore, Government of China must fulfill its international obligation to respect the fundamental principle of international law ‘non-refoulement’ for being a party to the Refugees Convention 1951 and its Protocol 1967.
He added that non-refoulement forbids a country receiving asylum seekers from returning them to a country in which they would be in likely danger of facing serious human rights violations on their return which may include; persecution, a threat to life, liberty and dignity, arbitrary detention, executions, sexual violence, forced labour and toture. Therefore, the Chinese authorities should avoid detaining refugees or avoid pursuing a rigorous policy of forced repatriating them from China to North Korea, and must not exchange information about refugees which amounts to facilitating the commission of crimes against humanity.
