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At the end of last August, Afghan refugee families arrived in Korea. Having abandoned everything to escape threats to their lives and safety, they had to board a plane in haste toward an uncertain future, and they were moved to the Jincheon Civil Service Training Institute and the Yeosu Coast Guard Education Center. Beginning with the departure of seven families last weekend, refugees who have “found jobs” will leave in turn until February 10. They are leaving the prison without bars that the Korean government built and will meet the real Korean society, not government officials. Having watched the process so far, refugee rights organizations ask: Does the Korean government have the will to protect Afghan refugees?
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Since the introduction of the refugee system in 1994, the Korean government has had no will to “protect refugees” and has merely used “refugees” as a tool for entry into the international community and for its credibility. Although refugees were deported, detained, discriminated against, and forced to wander by harsh immigration authorities, the refugee system has been “used” for the past 28 years to present a good face to the international community. Refugees were not protected; they had to become a tool for protecting the face of the Korean government.
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The series of responses to the first evacuation of refugees, which drew attention last August as Operation Miracle, is clearly worthy of high praise. However, the Korean government called them “persons of special merit” rather than “refugees” and tried to manage public opinion politically. In fact, the government, which should fulfill its responsibility toward refugees who have “the right to demand protection from the Korean government,” suddenly placed itself in the position of “granting safety as a favor” and put refugees in the position of “those who must be grateful for a gift and cannot demand anything.” That this was not merely a matter of terminology can be seen from the five months since their arrival.
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We were told that they would be treated specially as people who had rendered “special service” and contributed to the Korean government, and that they would find safety and peace in Korean society. Was that really the case? The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) confined them. Housing and meals were provided, Korean language classes and social integration education were provided, and goods sent by citizens and companies were distributed through the Red Cross, but from the time of their admission until now they have been locked in, unable to go out freely or to meet people freely. There is no legal basis for this at all. Why is free entry and exit not permitted? Because it is convenient to manage. Why can they not meet just anyone? Because they must be kept from meeting just anyone so that no particular talk arises. Because things that someone wants to hide must not come to light.
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The Ministry of Justice abandoned transparent cooperation with civil society. In an unprecedented and urgent refugee resettlement process, the burden of the initial work was naturally understandable. However, even as time passed, civil society and expert groups that wanted to work together in a smooth relationship and make efforts for the settlement of Afghan refugees in Korean society were given no information at all about the internal life of the refugees or the plans for future settlement support. Requests for interviews with the refugees were refused twice, and a meeting was possible only once, and only in the form of a lawyer visit under the law. An official request to establish procedures for going out and to set up an emergency medical support system was ignored, even 12 days after the deadline for answering the petition, with the excuse that they “forgot to answer.” We doubt whether the questions and requests from within by the confined refugees were answered faithfully.
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After making them beings who must be endlessly grateful to the Korean government and confining them, the government merely repeated “wait” even when refugees who came with several children and are anxious about life after leaving the facility asked, “What will happen to us when we leave here, and what is the Korean government’s plan?” It is now about to wrap up its role without even attempting to provide job information or matching in a public manner. Settlement can never be achieved by ignoring the dignity of refugees who must live as members of Korean society, by merely managing them as the government has done to some extent, by hurriedly connecting them only to jobs for which there is roughly some demand, and by handing them a few institutional gifts after they leave. Many of the existing resettled refugees are suffering after leaving facilities, so it is clear that the same thing will soon happen. Rather, success should be evaluated in the long term by whether the roughly 200 children can settle in Korean society without discrimination 10 years from now and build their dreams.
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The Korean government’s responsibility toward Afghan refugees does not end with waving goodbye to them as they leave the facility after February. There are people who asked the Korean government for protection but were refused and could not come. There are people who are still struggling to escape Afghanistan. There are requests for evacuation to Korea from women, children, and human rights activists. And among the Afghan refugees who were already in Korea, there are those who remain in an unstable status and are still addressed in a condescending, informal manner at local immigration offices and driven away from immigration. This is why, if the Korean government truly intends to protect refugees, it must not stop at press releases with photographs and its own assessment that “we made quite an effort.”
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We therefore make the following demands of the Korean government. At the same time, we want to make widely known that the many citizens who have sympathized with the suffering of Afghan refugees and extended a hand of solidarity with passion need to offer an even warmer welcome and concrete, hand-in-hand solidarity after February.
First, the Korean government must abolish the term “persons of special merit” and state its position in line with the principle of responsibility to protect the rights of refugees.
Second, the Korean government must apologize for the confinement of refugees at the Coast Guard Education Center without legal basis and immediately establish procedures for going out.
Third, the Korean government must prepare a public plan so that refugees at the Coast Guard Education Center can find jobs that take their careers and expertise into account.
Fourth, the Korean government must implement protection of Afghan refugees through the resettlement refugee system and protect the rights of refugees staying in Korea without discrimination.
January 13, 2022
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]4
