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North Korean economic migrants are being deported from China and
illegally used as forced labour in North Korean prison camps, a
new report from Anti-Slavery International reveals.
Forced Labour in North Korean Prison Camps includes 30 interviews
with North Korean men and women who were imprisoned in forced labour
camps for crossing the border. Forced labourers are made to work
10-12 hour days, seven days a week and kept in harsh conditions.
They are frequently beaten and subjected to degrading treatment
and punishment. As one of the women described:
"The work was so difficult and intense that prisoners'
hands and feet were torn and blistered. Everyday, prisoners were
hit by team leaders ... Everyone had to work, if you didn't you
were hit. Even if you fell from exhaustion, you would still have
to get up and continue working.... If you produced less ... you
received less food...," the woman told
Anti-Slavery International.
The fact these migrants will be punished with forced labour if
repatriated means that while they are in China, they are refugees
sur place, and entitled to international protection. Most
of those interviewed were subjected to forced labour before being
prosecuted, which violates international standards as well as North
Korea's domestic law.
"Subjecting migrants to forced labour is not acceptable
under any circumstances. Conditions in North Korean prison camps
are so harsh that some of those held die without being convicted
of any crime. China should stop deporting migrants to North Korea
while they are at risk of being subjected to slavery,"
the report's author Norma Muico said.
Anti-Slavery International is calling on the Government of North
Korea to:
- Stop the use of forced labour in prison camps;
- Take immediate action to prevent unconvicted detainees from
performing forced labour in line with its international and domestic
obligations;
- Invite the United Nations Special Rapporteur on North Korea
to visit North Korea in order to monitor human rights conditions
in the country and carry out a thorough review of conditions in
prison camps;
And for the Chinese Government to:
- Recognise North Korean economic migrants as refugees sur
place and stop the forcible repatriation of undocumented North
Koreans.
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