Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 88: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the treatment by the Chinese authorities of North Korean refugees, many of whom are sent back to North Korea where they face further persecution and possible death; if he has raised the issue with the Chinese authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33573/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of the matter to which the Deputy refers. I know that a recent television documentary shown here on the return of refugees to North Korea from China has increased awareness and concern on the issue in Ireland.

Ireland, together with our partners in the European Union, takes concerns about the human rights situation and the treatment of refugees in China very seriously. Human rights issues are a constant point of discussion in our bilateral and EU level dialogue with the Chinese authorities. Most recently, the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, met the Chinese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs in Beijing on 21 September and they discussed a wide range of issues, including human rights.

The EU-China human rights dialogue is the agreed formal framework through which the EU raises its concerns with China about individual human rights cases and more general issues. At the latest round of the human rights dialogue, held in Beijing on 24 October, the EU raised once more its concern regarding forced returns of North Korean refugees and urged China to work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and to respect its obligations under the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.