The Voice of America says a U.S. House subcommittee on human rights will hold an emergency hearing on Friday over China’s forced repatriation of North Korean escapees.

Subcommittee chairman Christopher Smith told the broadcaster that about 80 North Korean escapees who have been arrested in China since Kim Jong-un took power are facing repatriation and possibly execution if they are sent home.

Smith said China would violate international pacts if it repatriated them even though it knows the escapees would be killed. He urged China to allow the escapees to contact the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).