The family of Kim Cheol-ok, a North Korean defector who was forcibly repatriated from China last month, and North Korean human rights groups, including the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), sent an open letter to President Yoon Seok-yeol on the 9th, saying, “China’s practice of forcibly repatriating North Korean defectors during state visits to the UK and Netherlands to be held this year. “Please publicly call for reform.”
Nine North Korean human rights organizations, including the Transitional Justice Working Group, and two people, including Kim Cheol-ok’s older sister, Gyu-ri, and Kim Jeong-sam, the older brother of missionary Kim Jeong-wook, who is detained in North Korea, recently sent a letter containing this content to President Yoon. President Yoon will make a state visit to the United Kingdom from the 20th to the 23rd of this month and to the Netherlands from the 12th to the 13th of next month. At this event, North Korean human rights groups request that China speak out on the issue of forcibly repatriating North Korean defectors.
In an open letter, they said, “Please urge China to respect the principle of non-refoulement (of the Convention against Torture) and create a refugee screening system (for North Korean defectors),” and “the international community, including the UN. “Please appeal for more attention to be paid to this issue,” he said.
Prior to this, China had continued to repatriate North Korean defectors to North Korea despite the international community’s continued recommendations that “North Korean defectors should not be forcibly repatriated to North Korea due to the risk of being tortured or executed if they return to their home country.” As North Korea closed its borders in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus infection in January 2020, China’s forced repatriation of North Korean defectors was temporarily halted. However, as it became known that China forcibly repatriated about 620 North Korean defectors after North Korea opened its borders this year, voices of condemnation from the international community are growing.
The United Kingdom, where President Yoon is scheduled to make a state visit, is one of the countries that has consistently expressed opposition to the issue of forcibly repatriating North Korean defectors. A bipartisan group of North Korea-related members of the British Parliament, including British Senator David Alton, sent a letter to the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 21st of last month (local time), saying, “We urge diplomatic efforts to stop the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors and protect their human rights.” On the 25th of last month, Anne-Marie Trevellian, Deputy Secretary of State for Indo-Pacific Affairs at the British Foreign Office, emphasized to China, “We must not detain and forcibly repatriate North Korean refugees.” Katherine West, deputy foreign minister for Asia in the British Labor Party’s reserve cabinet, met Gyu-ri, the older sister of Kim Cheol-ok, who was forcibly repatriated to North Korea on the 26th of last month (local time), in London for 45 minutes and said, “Her sister will face an uncertain future (due to the forcible repatriation to North Korea). He also revealed the interview on Twitter, saying, “I am one of the hundreds of people who are concerned about this.”
It is highly likely that the UN General Assembly at the end of this year will adopt a North Korean human rights resolution condemning human rights violations in North Korea and demanding improvements for the 19th consecutive year. There is also a possibility that this resolution will include language condemning China’s forced repatriation to North Korea. The draft resolution released by the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly on its website on the 9th said, “We strongly urge all member states to respect the fundamental principle of non-refoulement.” “This is especially true considering that cross-border movement (with North Korea) has resumed.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.