Repatriation of North Korean Refugees Escaping Through Southeast Asia

The Institute of World Politics

About the Lecture This lecture is part of the Student Speaker Series The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), also known as North Korea, has one of the worst human rights records in the world, leading many of its citizens to escape through nearby Southeast Asian countries to seek asylum in South Korea or other willing nations. A significant issue these escapees face is having an ambiguous United Nations (UN) refugee status and the fear of forced repatriation, also known as refoulement. The countries of China, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand are the most used Southeast Asian escape routes for North Korean refugees. This lecture seeks to solidify North Korean escapee’s status as refugees, explain the status of Southeast Asian countries’ relationship with North Korea and their history of forced repatriation, and proposes a UN General Assembly Human Rights Council Resolution that creates an international body called “The Committee on the Resettlement of North Korean Refugees,” which shall encourage Southeast Asian countries not to repatriate them and coordinate the removal of these refugees from Southeast Asia to be resettled in South Korea or other willing nations. About the Speaker Peace Ajirotutu is a Master of Arts candidate at the Institute of World Politics, pursuing a Masters in Statecraft and International Affairs with a concentration in Asian regional area studies. Before attending IWP, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Summa Cum Laude, with a major in Political Science and a double minor in History and Asian Studies. Peace is currently an editorial intern at the Jamestown Foundations China Brief publication. She has previously presented research on North Korea at the 2024 Intelligence Studies Consortium’s Symposium. Peace specializes in the regions of China, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan.