Settlement
Refugee settlement support
To reduce the difficulties refugees face in the early period after first arriving in Korea, MAP provides counseling and linkage to resources, multilingual Refugee News, and support for households in housing crisis. The work is for refugees of every residence status in Korea.
Background
Since the first asylum application in 1994, people who fled persecution and conflict in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and other regions have been starting new lives in Korea. Settlement is a process that continues long after a residence permit is granted, and at every stage, from finding a place to live and a job to using hospitals and schools, people must rebuild the foundations of their lives.
The information and resources needed for settlement exist throughout society, but often do not reach refugees. Public and private services are scattered and mostly provided in Korean, and the range available varies by residence status. Without access to information, people cannot enjoy their rights either.
MAP understands settlement support as building relationships between refugees and the local community. Starting from counseling, it looks at a person's situation together with them, connects them with the organizations and people they need, and, together with other organizations, informs society of the gaps found along the way. The goal of this work is to create conditions in which refugees can choose and decide for themselves.
What we do
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Counseling and linkage to resources
MAP assesses each refugee's individual situation, connects them with public and private welfare resources, legal support, mental health services, and education and childcare information, and provides case management.
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Producing and distributing Refugee News
MAP makes living information on law, systems, welfare and health care into multilingual card news and videos and delivers them by text message, Facebook, WhatsApp and other channels.
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We Peace Korean Language School (ended)
MAP ran online Korean language education for students with a refugee background from 2022 to February 2025.
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Support for households in housing crisis
MAP supports refugee households in housing crisis, together with Habitat for Humanity Korea and local communities, so that they can find a home and stabilize their lives.
History
- 2016
MAP began counseling and linkage to resources for refugees. The work connects them with the help they need, such as legal, medical, family, education, employment and interpretation and translation services, through public and private organizations in the community. In March, it opened an office in Sinchon.
- 2017
MAP continued counseling and linkage to resources, and referred refugees who needed further treatment after health checkups to medical institutions. In November, it announced free flu vaccinations for refugees.
- 2018
On January 30, MAP signed an agreement with The Right Hands, an incorporated association, for a project to support refugees' medical costs. Over the year, it arranged livelihood support for 25 people and medical support for 29 people, together with linkage to shelter, education and legal aid.
- 2019
MAP offered telephone counseling in Korean, English and Arabic on set afternoons of the week, and provided health insurance counseling and emergency medical cost support. It produced a prenatal care brochure in Korean, English, French and Arabic.
- 2020
Health counseling grew with COVID-19: counseling and information on health problems reached 65 cases, more than double the 28 of the previous year. MAP provided emergency disaster livelihood funds to 32 migrant households in crisis and sent infection prevention supplies such as hand sanitizer and masks to refugee households. In February, it launched Refugee News to share information needed for life in Korea.
- 2021
MAP explained treatment and isolation procedures to refugees who tested positive for COVID-19 and their families, interpreted for them, and passed on vaccination information to refugees. It also continued sending relief supplies to refugee households and began a new mental health and psychosocial support project in cooperation with UNHCR.
- 2022
In March, MAP opened the We Peace Korean Language School, an online Korean language education project. In February and March, with sponsorship from the Life Insurance Social Contribution Committee, it worked with the international relief NGO ThePromise to provide daily necessities and food to 25 refugee households hit hard by COVID-19, and continued counseling, case management, and interpretation and translation support.
- 2023
With support from the Daum Foundation, MAP ran Peace Board, a project that archives information about life in Korea for refugees, from December 2022 to November 2023. It produced episode-by-episode videos on information needed for life in Korea, such as the refugee status determination procedure, how to use the immigration office, and Ministry of Justice support programs, with activists who are refugees themselves taking part as advisors, interpreters and translators, and lecturers. A production team of 11 refugees and 11 non-refugees made 28 videos (7.9 hours in total), seven episodes each in English, Arabic, French and Russian, and released them openly.
- 2024
KOICA ODA Young Professionals supported the counseling work. MAP set up a counseling space in its office where refugees and members of the organization can talk comfortably, and basic counseling came to about 200 cases.
- 2026
In March, MAP worked for a month with Habitat for Humanity Korea, a local religious community and village residents to find a home for a refugee family of five in housing crisis, and it continues to accompany the family toward stable living and self-reliance. On World Refugee Day in June, Habitat for Humanity Korea introduced its housing improvement project with MAP.
Humanitarian support: requests and enquiries
- Application formforms.gle/A9zGfKLHZYa8dn8G7
- Emailhs@mapcast.org
- Main line02-2038-0231
In numbers
- about 200 cases
- Basic counseling cases in 2024
- 55 items
- Refugee News issued in 2024
- 3,562 people
- People receiving Refugee News directly as of 2025 (Facebook, text message and WhatsApp combined)
- 106 people
- Students who completed a full year at the We Peace Korean Language School in 2024 (54 in the first semester, 52 in the second)
- 25 people
- Volunteer teachers at the We Peace Korean Language School in 2024 (including 2 teachers with a refugee background in the first semester and 1 in the second)
Photos
Recent activities
[RISE] Notice from the ‘Uri Peace Korean Language School’
[Announcement] The Uri Peace Korean Language School Has Opened an Instagram Account!
[RISE] Recruiting Students for the Uri Peace Korean Language School 2024 Second Semester
[RISE] Recruiting Students for the Korean Language School, 2024 First Semester!
Korean Language School for Refugees Opens for the 2023 Second Semester
Video Sketch of the 2023 Uri Peace Korean Language School Graduation Ceremony
[Uri Peace Korean Language School 2023 Spring Semester Opens]
K-Language festa 2022: Korean Language School for Refugees, “Uri Peace Korean Language School”
[RISE] We Peace Korean Language School ‘24 Year 2nd Semester Student Recruitment
[Announcement] Help Choose the Name of the Refugee News You Will Subscribe To! (~9/30)
[MAP LETTER] March MAP LETTER
