Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL5):
Question by Lord Alton of Liverpool:
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to highlight the refoulement of North Korean refugees from North Korea to China. (HL5)
Tabled on: 07 November 2023
Answer:
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon:
We acknowledge recent reports that China has started forcibly repatriating North Korean escapees to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). We emphasise directly to the Chinese authorities that they should not be detaining and forcefully repatriating North Korean refugees. The UK is also raising awareness of this issue at the UN. At both the Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur for the Human Rights Situation in North Korea on 24 October, and the 17 August UN Security Council meeting on the human rights situation in the DPRK, the UK called on all states to abide by the principle of non-refoulement.
Date and time of answer: 23 Nov 2023 at 16:54.
