Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what new information they have concerning the fate of North Korean refugees facing forced repatriation to North Korea from China.

We are aware of reports of North Korean refugees being forcefully repatriated to North Korea. Due to the closed nature of the regime in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, it is difficult to verify the accuracy of the many reports of serious and wide-ranging human rights violations in the country. We emphasise directly to the Chinese authorities that they should not be forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees where they face danger of imprisonment and further human rights abuses. The UK actively promotes the implementation of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention which asserts that a refugee should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom. At 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.