UN experts ask China to stop forcibly returning North Koreans and Pyongyang to disclose their fate
21 October 2026
A group of independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said on 21 October 2026 that there is no information on the whereabouts of North Koreans forcibly returned from China.
Their statement comes three years after large-scale forcible returns of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) nationals from China resumed.
They cited Kim Cheol-ok, detained by Chinese authorities in April 2023 and returned in October 2023, whose detention the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found arbitrary in 2024.
The experts called on China to respect the principle of non-refoulement and to stop repatriating North Koreans.
They called on Pyongyang to disclose the fate and whereabouts of returnees.
Special Rapporteurs and independent experts serve in their individual capacity and receive no salary.
In plain words
Non-refoulement Non-refoulement — The principle that no one should be returned to a country where they face a real risk of persecution, torture or inhuman treatment.