Two European Union countries have been accused by a British human rights group of employing "forced labour" from North Korea.

Malta and Poland, which are signatories to European Union employment laws, both feature on a global list of countries where firms have allegedly used North Koreans provided by Pyongyang-sponsored work schemes.

The report, by the European Alliance for Human Rights in North Korea, says the North Korean workers routinely toil under poor conditions, with much of their wages deducted automatically to subsidise Kim Jong-un's regime.

While most of the 50,000 North Koreans on such schemes are currently working in Asian and Middle Eastern countries - some 1,800 are believed to be helping Qatar in its preparations for the 2022 World Cup - up to 1,000 may be working in the EU, the report's authors said.

Among them is a group working in Malta, which has issued 93 visas to North Korean citizens since March 2013, according to Michael Glendinning, the director of the EAHRNK. Most are understood to work for a Chinese-owned firm based in the Maltese capital, Valletta.

Malta historically had a close relationship with North Korea after Kim Jong-un's father, Kim Jong-il, studied English in the former British colony in the early 1970s.

A larger number of around 800 North Koreans are also believed to be working in Poland, where in recent years they are known to have been employed in shipyards and orchards.

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The Telegraph