North Korean Refugees in China
Introduction
2024 marked the 75th anniversary of the bilateral relationship between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Chinese Communist Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un jointly designated it as "the year of DPRK-China friendship.” Xi Jinping also highlighted the anniversary as an opportunity to strengthen their “long-standing friendship, deepen strategic mutual trust, and enhance exchanges and cooperation.”
As is often the case with these two authoritarian regimes, these promises of friendship and cooperation have not translated into improved conditions for their people. In this context, North Koreans in China—particularly women, their families, temporary workers, and asylum seekers—remain exceptionally vulnerable.
(Washington)—The bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) held a hearing today looking at the rampant use of forced labor in China’s seafood industry and how seafood caught and processed with forced labor ends up in the U.S. supply chains. The CECC’s Chairs, Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) were joined at the hearing by Commissioner Thea Lee, the Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs at the Department of Labor. The CECC includes five Executive Branch members and bipartisan Congressional members from the House and Senate.
(Washington)—The Chairs of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) today released a letter to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and the High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi requesting a meeting on the dire situation of North Korean refugees in the People’s Republic of China. Representative Christopher Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) seek the meeting to discuss steps that can be taken by the international community to avert an impending human rights and humanitarian crisis on the North Korea-PRC border, where there are reportedly thousands of asylum-seekers awaiting repatriation.
Close to 2000 North Korean refugees are reportedly held in detention centers near the China-North Korea border. Once North Korea lifts its COVID-19 imposed border closure policy, these refugees will likely face forced repatriation, despite the Chinese government’s international obligation to protect asylum-seekers. Any large-scale repatriation is a humanitarian and human rights crisis, particularly considering that previously repatriated North Korean refugees experienced torture, sexual assault, forced abortion, forced labor, and, in some cases, execution.
Chinese Authorities Reportedly Repatriate North Korean Refugees Detained in China
Transcript (PDF) (Text)
In recent weeks, international human rights advocates and organizations have called on the Chinese government not to repatriate dozens of North Korean refugees currently detained in China. There is now growing concern that the refugees and their family members may face public execution if the refugees are forcibly returned to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).