[Statement] “Hankyung (Korea Economic Daily, 한국경제), which stirs up hatred of refugees through malicious distortion, must correct its headline and article”
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On November 5, Hankyung published an article titled <Court Recognizes Egyptian from Terrorist Organization as Refugee / by reporter Kim Myeong-il>. It also gave as a summary: “Mr. A, a former Muslim Brotherhood member / The group Mr. A belonged to carried out various acts of terror / The United States also moving to designate it a terrorist organization.” However, the Hankyung article maliciously distorts the content of the court’s ruling and stirs up hatred of refugees.
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It is true that the Egyptian government designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization on December 25, 2013. However, the current Egyptian government did so for a political purpose, in order to repress supporters of former President Morsi. In fact, by designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, the Egyptian government made it possible to treat people as criminals and to arrest and detain them solely because they are members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and it is carrying out merciless repression, with the death penalty or life imprisonment being imposed on them.
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The Seoul Administrative Court ruling of October 29, 2019, mentioned in the article, also fully acknowledged these conditions in Egypt and held that “the plaintiff’s fear that he could be arrested and detained by the Egyptian government because of his activities in the Muslim Brotherhood amounts to a well-founded fear of persecution.”
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Hankyung distorted these facts and published the article under the sensational headline “Court Recognizes Egyptian from Terrorist Organization as Refugee.” This made it appear as though the Egyptian man who won his refugee case was a dangerous person from a terrorist organization, and that the court had recognized such a person as a refugee. This spreads false and distorted facts and stirs up “fear of refugees” and “hatred of refugees.” In addition, the phrase “The group Mr. A belonged to carried out various acts of terror” was placed under the headline as if it were a main summary of the article, but the body of the article contains nothing at all to support it.
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The article also mentions that “the United States is moving to designate it a terrorist organization,” but this is, strictly speaking, not accurate information. President Trump is trying to designate the Brotherhood a terrorist organization not because of any clear evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood committed terrorism, but merely at the request of President el-Sisi, who rules as a dictator after a military coup. Even officials of the Trump administration’s Department of Defense and Department of State are opposing Trump’s will to push this, saying that the Muslim Brotherhood does not meet the legal definition of a terrorist organization. Mentioning that the United States is moving to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization while leaving out these facts is nothing more than fragmentary reporting that omits the key context.
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According to Article 2 of the Human Rights Reporting Guidelines of the Journalists Association of Korea, “The press does not promote negative images of or discriminate against migrants on the basis of thin evidence or inaccurate speculation.”
These are the reporting guidelines. Yet Hankyung forgot such basic journalistic ethics and the social responsibility of the press, and, through false and sensational reporting that distorted the facts, branded refugees as “terrorists” and stirred up hatred and discrimination against refugees in society.
- The Korea Refugee Rights Network condemns Hankyung’s reporting as a serious violation of the human rights of a minority and as something that deepens social conflict, and strongly demands that it correct the headline and content of the article immediately.November 23, 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