Letter to the Committee Specialist from
the Parliamentary Relations Team, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
GLOBAL SECURITY:
JAPAN AND
KOREA—DPRK REFUGEES
Thank you for your letter of 23rd October asking
whether China's treatment of refugees from the DPRK had been raised
at the Executive Committee of the Programme of the High Commissioner
for Refugees. We did not raise the matter on this occasion because
we felt that it would be more effective to concentrate our efforts
on the resolution on DPRK human rights which the EU is currently
sponsoring at the UN General Assembly (UNGA). However, we will
discuss this matter at working level with the UNHCR.
The text of the UNGA resolution is still being
finalised, but it includes a reference to the harsh penalties
imposed upon returnees to the DPRK and calls on all States to
respect the principle of non-refoulement (i.e. not returning refugees
to their country of origin). The UK also specifically raised the
question of UNHCR involvement in its statement at the interactive
dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on DPRK Human Rights,
which was held on 23rd October. We have also raised this matter
as part of the UK-China and EU-China Human Rights Dialogues.
3 November 2008
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