Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they accept the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (1) that North Koreans who are deemed to be opponents of the State are routinely sent to gulags, become slave labour, are subjected to forced abortions, torture and execution, and (2) that repatriation of refugees invariably results in them being sent to gulags.

The British Government remains extremely concerned by the appalling human rights situation in the DPRK as outlined in the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) report. We have repeatedly made clear our serious concerns about the regime's treatment of its people, both directly to the DPRK government and through multilateral fora.

We have consistently called on the DPRK to allow independent inspections of the humanitarian situation. On 11 December, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, echoed this call during a speech to the UN Security Council meeting on human rights in the DPRK. The speech also referenced the regime's refusal to act on the COI's findings.

We agree unequivocally with the recommendation of Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK, that the DPRK should refrain from using any form of punishment or retaliation against people who are forcibly repatriated.