BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Three years on from the reported resumption of large-scale forcible returns of North Korean nationals from China, serious concerns persist about their fate, according to a group of Human Rights Council-appointed independent experts.
There is no information on the whereabouts and treatment of those repatriated - or those who remain at risk of return - the experts said in a press release Wednesday.
'These events form part of a longstanding pattern of serious human rights violations against individuals forcibly returned to the DPRK. In the absence of independent monitoring in either country, many returnees remain unaccounted for,' they said.
'For as long as their fate and whereabouts remain unknown, returnees are deprived of essential safeguards against enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, execution, torture, forced labor, sexual and gender-based violence and other serious human rights violations,' the experts added.
Reports indicate that some women who left North Korea became victims of trafficking, forced marriage and sexual exploitation.
Since 2023, reports have emerged of serious human rights violations against returnees, particularly those perceived as having sought asylum or who left the country without authorization, raising concerns under the principle of non-refoulement.
The experts called on China to respect the principle of non-refoulement, refrain from repatriating North Koreans 'and ensure access to fair and effective procedures for assessing their international protection needs'.
They also called on Pyongyang to disclose the fate and whereabouts of returnees.
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