U.S. lawmakers have released a report condemning China for repatriating North Korean escapees and exploiting them for forced labor, and called on Beijing to use its influence to improve the DPRK’s dire human rights situation.

The “North Koreans in China: Marginalized, Exploited and Repatriated” report, released last month, is the first such comprehensive analysis by the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) on the state of North Koreans living in China, reflecting the body’s growing focus on this issue in recent years.