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Refugees in South Korea

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South Korea joined the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1992 and became the first country in East Asia to enact its own refugee law in 2012.[1] According to the Ministry of Justice in South Korea, there has been 12,208 asylum applicants since 1992 and it has accepted 522 (4.2% of the total applicants) as refugees.[2] The UNHCR categorized 44 industrialized countries in the world as refugees receiving countries.[citation needed] South Korea is one of the receiving countries in Asia-Pacific, including Japan. The number of asylum applications in 2013 increased by 85%; however, according to the Ministry of Justice in South Korea, the acceptance rate of refugees was 7.3% at the end of 2014.[3] UNHCR said among the Parties relating to the Status of Refugees, 38% of asylum seekers were accepted as refugees, which is Korea's acceptance is much lower than international standards.[4] The top nationality of asylum seekers in Korea is Pakistani (2,017) since 1994. The top three nationalities of people accepted as a refugee are Myanmar (154), Bangladesh (84), and Ethiopia (73). Refugees from Myanmar were accepted because of political reasons but the number of refugees has decreased as the political situation in Myanmar has improved.[5]

The process of application for asylum is very complicated in South Korea. Asylum seekers in South Korea are not allowed to get a job for the first 6 months, which prevent illegal stay for getting a job. They are not in the public health insurance system, as well. The Korean government provides support for living expenses to asylum seekers, but for only 7% of them because of a lack of budget. It takes over a year to be categorised as a refugee.[5] The asylum seekers have to be permitted to extend their residence for every 6 months, a year for people who are staying under humanitarian grounds.[6] However, it is hard to be performed precisely because there is not enough human resources for status determination.[7]

In 2018, 500 refugees fleeing the civil war in Yemen came to Jeju Island, causing unease among some of the residents of Jeju Island.[8][9][10][11][12][13] Among many activist groups and celebrities, Jung Woo-sung raised attention to the situation of the refugees and reaffirmed his support for them.[14][15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "South Korea: New Beacon for Refugees". Yaleglobal Online. 2013-09-12.
  2. ^ ""한국은 난민에게 인색한 나라?"…난민제도에 대한 오해와 진실(Misunderstanding and truth towards Refugees policies in South Korea)". 아시아투데이(Asiatoday). 2015-10-14.
  3. ^ "유럽의 시리아 난민 사태, 먼 나라 이야기일까(European Refugees crisis, there is no connection to Korea?)". 브레인미디어(Brainmedia). 2015-09-07.
  4. ^ "난민 신청 5년새 10배 늘었는데…인정률은 고작 0.9%(Asylum seekers has been increased to 10 times, the acceptance is only 0.9%)". 한국경제(Hankyung. 2015-09-08.
  5. ^ a b "난민 신청 100명 중 인정 5명도 안 돼, 문턱 높은 한국(less than 5% of acceptance rate as a refugee)". 평화신문. 2015-10-11.
  6. ^ "지중해 난민선처럼… 아무도 구하려 하지 않는 한국의 난민들 (There is no safety on Refugees in South Korea)". Hankook Ilbo(Hankook ilbo). 2015-05-06.
  7. ^ "S 테러 공포 확산, 한국 난민 정책에 대한 의견 분분(Controversy on Refugee policy in South Korea)". 아시아투데이(Asia Today). 2015-11-23.
  8. ^ Murphy, Brian (22 June 2018). "How hundreds of Yemenis fleeing the world's worst humanitarian crisis ended up on a resort island in South Korea". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  9. ^ "South Koreans outraged as 500 Yemeni refugees flee to island". Financial Times. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Yemeni refugees' fate tested on Jeju Island". Korea Times. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  11. ^ "South Korea to tighten laws amid influx of Yemeni asylum-seekers to resort island of Jeju". Straits Times. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Justice Ministry proposes reinforcement measures to amend refugee act". The Korea Herald. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  13. ^ "제주 온 예멘인 500여 명 난민 신청..엇갈리는 시선". 다음 뉴스 (in Korean). 2018-06-19. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  14. ^ "[JEJU FORUM] Actor brings attention to refugees' plight". Korea JoongAng Daily. 2018-06-25. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  15. ^ Dong Sun-hwa (2018-10-22). "Actor Jung Woo-sung reaffirms support for refugees". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
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  • NANCEN, Human Right for Refugees center in South Korea


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