A/HRC/31/38 repatriated to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea had been systematically subjected to torture and ill-treatment. The Committee recommended that the Government of China should immediately cease forcible repatriation of undocumented migrants and victims of trafficking to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and allow personnel of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees unimpeded access to nationals of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea who had crossed the border, in order to determine if they qualified for refugee status (see CAT/C/CHN/CO/5, paras. 46 and 47). 34. While illegal crossings at the border have declined, from January to September 2015, some 139,700 citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, 117,900 of whom were male, reportedly crossed legally into China. Such international travel requires permission from the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. 8 Tens of thousands of workers have reportedly been contracted by the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to work in foreign companies in China, the Russian Federation and other countries, mostly in construction and other manual jobs. Those workers reportedly live in poor conditions, are subject to lengthy working hours and oversight and limitations on their movement. They reportedly receive only a fraction of their pay, as the hiring companies pay the Government of the Democratic People��s Republic of Korea directly. D. Discrimination against women 35. Discrimination against women continued to limit their full participation in economic and social life. Married women are traditionally exempted from holding official jobs. Following the surge of private economic activities in the late 1990s, most such activities have been carried out by married women. They can more easily engage in the informal market and in informal trade because, unlike men, they do not have to take up official State employment. Thus, women who engage in cross-border trading activities with China have reportedly been disproportionately affected by restrictions at the border area. 36. There were credible reports of trafficking in women from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea into China. In some cases, that reportedly resulted in forced marriage to Chinese men and other forms of sexual exploitation. Those women are extremely vulnerable in China; they are at a constant risk of forced repatriation to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Children born to those women and fathered by Chinese men are stateless as they are recognized by neither of the Governments of their parents’ countries. The women rarely have family support to draw on, and their illegal status and fear of being returned to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea make them highly unlikely to contact the authorities if they or their children are abused. 37. Pregnant women who were returned to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were reportedly detained and forced to have abortions. In most cases, abortions were reportedly carried out to prevent the women from giving birth to children that were half Chinese.9 8 9 8 See http://en.cnta.gov.cn/Statistics/TourismStatistics/201511/t20151104_750749.shtml. Korea Institute for National Unification, White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea 2015, p. 108. Available at www.kinu.or.kr/eng/pub/pub_04_01.jsp.