[Welcome Statement] Welcoming the Afghan Refugee Families Finding Refuge in Korea
[Statement]Welcoming the Afghan refugee families finding refuge in Korea and the Korea goverment’s first rescue mission
August 24, 2021
According to media reports, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is carrying out an evacuation operation for about 400 people who worked for the Korean government and related institutions, together with their families. The Korea Refugee Rights Network sincerely welcomes their evacuation together with all citizens of Korea who stand in solidarity for the safety and peaceful lives of refugees. We also welcome the swift and proactive response of the Korean government, which overcame its failure to take appropriate measures during the withdrawal of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in 2014, directly assisted the evacuation of these refugees without delay and took responsibility for their lives.
Since the Korean War of the 1950s, Korea has reached the ranks of advanced countries today thanks to the solidarity and support of the international community. However, the Korean government has not taken a leading position in the field of international human rights, and on the refugee issue, one of the most important matters of the 21st century, it has only repeated the achievement of “enacting the Refugee Act, Asia’s first independent law implementing the Refugee Convention” and has not played a substantive role. Amid the government’s lack of a system, it was difficult for refugees who came to Korea seeking refuge to cross the Korean border, to obtain refugee status, and to settle and live in Korea afterward. The extremely low refugee recognition rate and the government’s ambiguous position, together with the misunderstanding and hatred toward refugees overflowing in Korea, are proof of this.
This evacuation of local assistants, which civil society organizations demanded for a long time, is a measure the Korean government should take as a matter of course, even if it were not an obligation under international law related to refugee protection, considering Korea’s responsibility as a troop-dispatching country in the United States-led war in Afghanistan that has continued since 2001, and the fact that we must not turn away from people who are in danger because they assisted Korea. In addition, as the situation on the ground continues to worsen, it is necessary to identify whether there are additional people among those who worked on development cooperation projects of the Korean government or private NGOs who need help with evacuation. If necessary, another operation should also be prepared. Moreover, there are still refugees in Afghanistan and neighboring countries fleeing threats to their lives. Among them, human rights defenders, women and children, journalists, sexual minorities and persons with disabilities are in an even more vulnerable situation. The Korean government should actively participate in upcoming meetings such as the G7 and G20, review the refugee policies and systems that have been inadequate until now for the protection of these refugees, and take an active position on refugee resettlement.
The role of the National Assembly is also important for improving the refugee system. The National Assembly should stop discussing the current government’s amendment to the Refugee Act, which contributes to the regression of the refugee system, and should make legislative and policy efforts so that the refugees who have just arrived, the refugees who have not yet been able to flee Afghanistan, and the refugees living in Korea can live peacefully in Korean society without discrimination, without being consumed as a social issue.
Refugees are not strangers in Korean society. Until now, refugees have only had their existence and their language denied, and they are legitimate members of society who are already actively living their lives in Korean society. We also ask Korean citizens to put aside unfamiliarity, to bless the future of the refugee families who had to leave their home countries in the midst of confusion and suffering the like of which comes only once in a life, and who came to Korea with bodies and minds worn out by worry and anxiety about the future, and to become good friends and neighbors to them.
The organizations belonging to the Korea Refugee Rights Network, which oppose hatred and discrimination and defend the human rights of refugees, will stay with them through the entire process until the end, together with all citizens who wish for and support the safety and peaceful lives of refugees, so that we can live as neighbors and friends of refugees.
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- 난민인권네트워크 [TFC(The First Contact for Refugee) 공익법센터 어필, 공익변호사와 함께하는 동행, 공익사단법인 정, 공익인권법재단 공감, 공익인권센터 드림(DREAM), 국제난민지원단체 피난처, 글로벌호프, 난민인권센터, 동두천난민공동체, 동작FM, 민주사회를 위한 변호사모임 국제연대위원회,사단법인 두루, 서울온드림교육센터, 수원시글로벌청소년드림센터, 순천이주민지원센터, 아시아의 친구들, 아시아평화를향한이주MAP, 안산시글로벌청소년센터, 이주여성을위한문화경제공동체 에코팜므,이주민지원공익센터 감동, 의정부 EXODUS, 이주민지원센터친구, 천주교 제주교구 이주사목센터 나오미, 재단법인 동천, 재단법인 화우 공익재단, 제주평화인권연구소 왓, 참여연대, 파주 EXODUS, 한국이주인권센터]
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