[Statement] Withdraw the Ministry of Justice Policy Barring Humanitarian Stay Holders from Construction Work

[Statement] The Ministry of Justice must withdraw its policy barring construction work, which, far from supporting the settlement of humanitarian status holders, even blocks the survival measure of self-initiated employment for refugees who fled war zones

1. Since last month, front-line Immigration Offices have posted a “notice” announcing that the introduction of fees for stay permits for refugee applicants, humanitarian status holders and recognized refugees, and the policy barring refugee applicants and humanitarian status holders from construction work, will both take effect on July 1. As a result, refugees, who currently have no settlement support, who have not been brought into the social safety net, and who have no means of livelihood other than self-reliance through employment, for which all responsibility falls on the individual, are continually being driven out of the construction occupations they found with difficulty despite barriers of language and culture.

2. Since last year, the Ministry of Justice has announced “measures against illegally staying and working foreigners” with the stated aim of “preventing illegally staying foreigners from eroding national jobs in construction and other fields,” citing the protection of jobs for Korean nationals and the prevention of reverse discrimination against Korean nationals as its policy grounds. These measures themselves were problematic: they prevent the survival of foreigners for whom simple labour is the only means of livelihood, the shortage of workers at actual sites cannot be solved at all by shutting out foreigners, and they relied on sentiment of hatred toward foreigners.

3. Moreover, the notice announced this time takes no account whatsoever of “the particular situation of refugees.” In the cruel reality of Korea, where no policy or system for refugee settlement exists, the means of livelihood available to refugees, who have a high need for protection in a foreign culture with a completely different language and culture, are mostly simple labour. Excluding simple labour from the occupations open to refugees who cannot return because persecution plainly exists, and who must find food and shelter for the day by themselves in Korea, immediately deprives them of their right to survive and drives them onto the street.

4. Furthermore, the refugees hit hardest by this policy are the “humanitarian status holders.” What policy goal could possibly be achieved that would justify excluding from construction occupations the 2,005 humanitarian status holders (as of December 31, 2018) staying in Korea, who fled mainly from war zones because they might face cruel treatment such as torture, at the cost of seriously violating their right to survive?5. Halting refugee applicants’ employment in construction is likewise nothing other than another measure that shifts the suffering caused by prolonged refugee status determination entirely onto the applicants. The Ministry has even begun to impose a new duty to pay fees, so refugee applicants must now newly pay 60,000 won for an extension of stay and 120,000 won for permission to engage in activities not covered by the status of stay in order to obtain a work permit, and whether this must be paid every month or every three months depends on the discretion of the immigration officer. At a time when living expenses for refugee applicants are hardly paid at all, refugees who want to apply for protection by relying on Korea’s refugee system must work for themselves to endure the examination period, must pay money again and again in order to earn money, and the jobs at which they can work lawfully are gradually disappearing.

5. This situation also runs directly counter to the settlement support measures for Korean society, such as the mentoring system, that the Ministry of Justice announced for the Yemeni refugees, most of whom were granted humanitarian status last year. Instead of correcting the total absence of livelihood measures for “humanitarian status holders,” who have no network in Korean society, and devising various forms of settlement support such as job guidance services and interpretation, the Ministry is driving humanitarian status holders who fled war back onto the cold streets.

6. The member organisations of the Korea Refugee Rights Network, which defend the human rights of refugees in Korean society and oppose all forms of discrimination, strongly oppose the Ministry of Justice, which previously drove Yemenis onto the streets in Jeju Island because of the absence of policy, once again driving refugees onto the streets by taking away not only livelihood support but even livelihood measures. As an institution of the Government of the Republic of Korea, which must comply with the Refugee Convention and the Refugee Act and must actively take part in the 2019 Global Refugee Forum, the ministerial-level meeting held under the Global Compact, the Ministry of Justice must immediately withdraw its policy barring refugee applicants and humanitarian status holders from construction work and its policy of imposing fees, both of which rely on discrimination against refugees, and must prepare settlement support measures for humanitarian status holders.July 3, 2019. Korea Refugee Rights Network▣ Korea Refugee Rights Network (as of July 3, 2019: the 23 member organisations and 4 special members below)공익법센터 어필, 공익변호사와 함께하는 동행, 공익사단법인 정, 공익인권법재단 공감, 공익인권센터 드림(DREAM), 국제난민지원단체 피난처, 글로벌호프, 난민인권센터, 동두천난민공동체, 사단법인 두루, 순천이주민지원센터, 아시아의 친구들, 아시아평화를향한이주MAP, 이주여성을위한문화경제공동체 에코팜므,이주민지원공익센터 감동, 의정부 EXODUS, 이주민지원센터친구, 천주교 제주교구 이주사목센터 나오미, 재단법인 동천, 제주평화인권연구소 왓, 파주 EXODUS, 한국이주인권센터, 휴먼아시아