Democratic People’s Republic of Korea/Russian Federation: Pursuit, intimidation and abuse of North Korean refugees and workers

This report contains a number of recommendations to the North Korean and Russian authorities. Amnesty International asks the Russian authorities to fully implement its obligations under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. The organization asks the North Korean authorities to bring an immediate end to pursuit of North Korean refugees and to ensure that no North Korean is imprisoned solely on account of his wish to leave his country. North Korean refugees in the Russian Federation are pursued by the North Korean Public Security Service and sometimes apprehended and forcibly returned to North Korea, where they may face imprisonment and even the death penalty. One North Korean was summarily executed at the Russian-North Korean border by the North Korean authorities.

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