Staggering 600 North Koreans ‘vanish’ after being forcibly deported from China
Hundreds of North Koreans have reportedly vanished following large-scale forced deportation from China after fleeing Kim Jong Un’s regime.
Seoul-based human rights organisation Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) said approximately 600 North Korean defectors have reportedly disappeared following a mass round-up.
The group say nothing has been heard from defectors since their repatriation nearly two months ago.
The largest mass repatriation in years involved buses and vans guarded by Chinese security officials transporting North Korean deportees from Chinese detention centres to border crossings in North Korea in October 2023.
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Ethan Hee-Seok Shin, Legal Analyst at TJWG urged Western governments to intervene. He said: “The international silence shrouding the human rights atrocities against the North Korean people must stop.
“With the Assembly of States Parties underway, we urge the UK and US governments to condemn and take actions against China’s recent forcible repatriation to prevent many more North Koreans vanishing into the abyss on their forced return to their homeland. We estimate that at least 1,100 more North Koreans are estimated to be held in Chinese detention centres; they are ‘sitting ducks’ who could be deported back to the murderous regime which they fled from at any moment.”
“The international community must work together to not only ensure both China and North Korea are held accountable for their atrocious actions, but also find a solution to this generational issue.
“I call upon UN Secretary-General António Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk to provide good office to negotiate an acceptable solution and end the needless suffering of North Korean defectors.”
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Catriona Murdoch, British Barrister and Partner at Global Rights Compliance added: “Crimes of enforced disappearance torment and plague the families left behind. The utter anguish of a life trapped in a Chinese detention centre faced with a forcible repatriation to the dystopic North Korea where they will most likely endure a barbaric fate as punishment for their escape.
“With the international gaze fixed on finding those kidnapped in Gaza, or forcibly transferred into Russia, once again the systematic human rights abuses and international crimes occurring inside North Korea continue unabated and unacknowledged.
“The time has come to speak out, search for the missing, prevent further disappearances and rigorously pursue accountability for those perpetrating such crimes.”
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