Save North Korean Refugees Day 2023

22 September 2023

His Excellency Xi Jinping

General-Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party,

℅ His Excellency Zheng Zeguang.

Embassy of the People’s Republic of China

49-51 Portland Place,

London, W1B 1JL

Dear General Secretary Xi,

Forty-one years ago this month, the People’s Republic of China signed the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. By signing this agreement, the PRC agreed to comply with international concerns and protocols for refugees.

Many North Korean citizens living under the Kim Jong Un regime suffer severe violations of their human rights, amounting to crimes against humanity. In February 2014, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK (COI) concluded that “The gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a State that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world.” This has led over 33,000 North Korean citizens to flee the country.

The Chinese government must allow safe passage to North Korean refugees and cease repatriating them to North Korea. Those returned under your current policies can face torture, imprisonment, and even public execution.

As a member of the United Nations, the Chinese government must grant refugee status to all North Korean refugees in accordance with the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, or at least allow them safe passage to South Korea or another third country. North Korean refugees have a place to go for immediate resettlement as citizens of South Korea under Articles 2 and 3 of the Republic of Korea Constitution.

We believe working together with the international community, and the UNHCR, China can resolve this crisis quickly, safely, and according to international law.

Sincerely,

CSW