Severe Restrictions on Movement, Employment, Food

• People who have escaped from North Korea since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic have described severe repression and restrictions on economic activity.
• North Korean escapees’ accounts illustrate the devastating impact of the government’s oppressive Covid-19 measures that further shrank people’s already limited freedoms.
• The UN Human Rights Council should renew the mandate of the UN special rapporteur on North Korea and update the mandate of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for North Korea investigation.