[NK News] UN committee questions China about forced deportation of North Korean women

17 May 2023

On May 16, NKDB's Director of International Cooperation, Hanna Song, appeared in an NK News article. Director Song made an observation on the recent session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in which China's accountability in relation to human rights abuses suffered by North Korean women within its territory was raised.

Hanna Song of the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights told NK News that Leinarte’s inquiry at the recent session appears to be the first time that the CEDAW has discussed China’s role in perpetuating human rights abuses against North Korean women.

She said the move comes after NKDB and other civil society groups recommended that the committee critically engage China on its rights record regarding North Korean women last year. Most defectors escape to China, living and working there or transiting through another country to reach South Korea.

“A lot of the human rights violations that [the victims] want to be addressed are the issues that actually have to do with China,” Song said. “And given the fact that there aren’t many opportunities to engage with North Korea, we were looking for different opportunities. Addressing these concerns to China is a way of showing how different actors have to be held accountable for human rights violations.”

Song said that civil society groups want Beijing to “recognize that North Korean women sent back from China will face torture” and to take steps to prevent that, like recognizing marriages between DPRK women and Chinese men.

You can read the full article on NK News website by clicking HERE.

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