On May 3, several domestic news organizations ran reports based on the fact that 76 Yemeni refugees had entered the country at once. The reports used expressions that could create prejudice against the Yemeni refugees, such as “we are suspicious and keeping watch” and “Islamic country.” However, this ignores the situation of people living through a civil war that has lasted for three years, and such clearly biased reporting also runs counter to the stance of journalists, who should hold objectivity as their highest value. We have therefore issued a statement to condemn it and to call for attention.
Yemenis Who Fled the Worst Crisis Need Protection, Not Suspicion
– The Jeju Immigration Office and the media, which foster prejudice and hatred against refugees, must wake up and fulfill their role in protecting refugees
On May 3, many domestic news organizations, including Yonhap News[1], the Seoul Shinmun[2], News1[3] and the Jeju Sori[4], reported that large numbers of Yemenis had entered Jeju Island and applied for asylum. The gist of the reports was that the number of foreigners applying for asylum in Jeju, where entry without a visa is possible, is increasing, that 369 people had applied for asylum by April of this year, that 90 of them were Yemenis, and in particular that on May 2, 76 Yemenis entered from Malaysia at once, and “it is suspected that they came to Jeju for the purpose of staying, such as applying for asylum, so the immigration office is keeping watch.” At the end of the reports, it was stated that there have been around 300 asylum applications in Jeju every year since 2014, but only one person has been recognized as a refugee.
We condemn the Jeju Immigration Office for describing the Yemenis as people it is “suspicious of and keeping watch on,” even though applying for asylum is not a crime. In addition, the Jeju Immigration Office provided the information that only one person in Jeju has been recognized as a refugee so far, and thereby created the prejudice that the Yemenis who entered this time, too, are “fake refugees” who are not refugees but seek to apply for asylum.
The media not only relayed this prejudice of the Jeju Immigration Office as it was, but went a step further and contributed to creating hatred and fear of refugees. In particular, the Seoul Shinmun used the expression “Yemen, an Islamic country.” By emphasizing only the fact that Yemen is an “Islamic country” among its many aspects, it spread once more through the media the groundless rumor that “many Islamic fake refugees, who are potential terrorists, are coming to Korea.”
When the number of asylum seekers from a particular country increases, the first thing we should do is not to distort and doubt their intentions but to examine changes in the circumstances of that country. The situation in Yemen, where a civil war has continued for more than three years amid the indifference of the international community, is heading toward the “greatest tragedy of the 21st century.”
[5] In March 2015, Saudi Arabia launched a military operation in Yemen with air strikes and ground troops through the Arab coalition forces, to stop the expansion of the Houthis, Yemeni Shiite rebels friendly with Iran. However, the persistent resistance of the Houthi rebels, backed by the Iranian government, mixed with clashes with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State (IS), has kept the worst bloodshed going. Over the past three years, 10,000 people have died in Yemen from bombing and fighting, about 2,000 have died of cholera, and 20 million people, 70% of the population, are in a situation where they cannot secure meals. As a result, 190,000 people have left Yemen, and the UN Refugee Agency has designated Yemen as a country in an emergency situation.
[6]
In the end, the reasonable reading is that the situation in Yemen has worsened, more refugees are being generated, and in that context more Yemenis are asking the Korean government for protection. In fact, Canada, a leader in refugee protection, recognized last June that the national situation in Yemen had seriously worsened, and it has applied to asylum seekers from Yemen the expedited process that applies to asylum seekers from countries in serious situations.
[7]
We demand that the Jeju Immigration Office not be suspicious of the sharp increase in Yemeni entries and asylum applications, but properly grasp the national situation in Yemen and protect these people appropriately. We also issue a stern warning to the media that entrench the prejudice that refugees seeking asylum from a miserable situation are “fake refugees” and that create groundless fear and hatred of refugees. The 76 Yemenis who came to Korea on May 3 are only 0.04% of the 190,000 refugees. Making sure that people who need the protection of the international community more than ever do not suffer in Korea from prejudice and unjust refugee screening is the minimum step we can start with for peace.
2018. 5. 4.
공익법센터 어필, 공익인권법재단 공감, 난민인권센터, 아시아평화를 향한 이주 MAP, 이주민지원공익센터 감동
[1] 연합뉴스, ‘’제주에 왜’ 중동 예멘인 대거 입국…난민신청자 급증’ (2018. 5. 3. ) http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/local/2018/05/03/0810010000AKR20180503082700056.HTML
[2] 서울신문, ‘제주도에 예멘인 북적북적한 이유 알아보니…”난민신청자 급증” (2018. 5. 3. ) http://www.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20180503500083&wlog_tag3=naver
[3] 뉴스1, ‘제주서 예멘인 난민 신청 급증 …올 방문 168명 중 90명’ (2018. 5. 3. ) http://news1.kr/articles/?3308212
[4] 제주의소리, ‘중동 예멘인 76명 집단 제주행 ‘난민신청여부 촉각’’ (2018. 5. 3. ) http://www.jejusori.net/?mod=news&act=articleView&idxno=204081&sc_code=&page=&total=
[5] 연합뉴스, ‘21세기 최대 비극’ 예맨내전 3주년…끝 안보이는 최악 위기 (2018. 3. 26) http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/bulletin/2018/03/26/0200000000AKR20180326013151009.HTML
[6]http://www.unhcr.org/yemen-emergency.html
[7] The expedited process had been applied to asylum seekers from Syria, Burundi, Iraq, Eritrea and Afghanistan, and from June 2017 its application was extended to asylum seekers from Egypt and Yemen. CBC, ‘’Win-win situation’: Expedited refugee claim process clears cases without hearings’, (2017.11.3) http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/win-win-situation-expedited-refugee-claim-process-clears-cases-without-hearings-1.4381197