On December 17, 2021, the Ministry of Justice discreetly proposed a bill to amend the Refugee Act. The Ministry of Justice’s revision of the Refugee Act, which was proposed in response to anti-refugee sentiments that emerged from the Yemeni refugees in 2018, faced backlash from civil society organizations and refugees themselves, as well as National Human Rights Commission of Korea, UNHCR, and the Korean Bar Association and Minbyeon (Lawyers for a Democratic Society). Despite the backlash, the Ministry of Justice took a firm stance and now is aiming to pass the reform bill at the National Assembly.
The revision lays a legal basis for existing administrative practices that have rejected most asylum seekers for being “fake refugees,” abusing the refugee law. The key regulation of the bill promotes the criteria for the qualification that prevent asylum seekers from being reviewed again. If this reform bill passes, asylum seekers will be deported for not providing appropriate evidence —due to lack of assistance— to prove they are refugees, without an opportunity to have their applications reviewed.
South Korea holds the lowest refugee recognition rate among OECD countries, with its rate below 1% every year. Most asylum seekers do not receive any assistance during the refugee application and screening process, nor do they receive translation or interpretation support. Improvement measures regarding the screening process have been called for, domestically and internationally, as asylum seekers in South Korea are not assisted enough to provide necessary explanations and evidence on their own. If preventing the reapplication takes priority over improving the refugee screening process and relief procedures, it is only natural that about 99% of asylum seekers who are not recognized as refugees will be repatriated.
Since implementing the Refugee Act, the government has been aiming to limit asylum seekers’ opportunities to apply to be recognized as refugees and create barriers instead of protecting their rights. Guidelines were issued to enforce this deficient review system and it is while following this guideline that what is supposed to be a fair and professional refugee screening became corrupted and manipulated. The victims of this flawed review system are deemed “fake refugees,” deprived of their status of residence, threatened with their survival, and eventually pressured to leave the country. In the 10th year of the implementation of the Refugee Act, the government is striving to pass the revised Refugee Act to discourage reapplication.
What does the Refugee Act mean in South Korea?
It is a human rights law that the government and the National Assembly had taken pride in, as Asia’s first independent refugee act. Despite its high economic status, South Korea had not been active in the international community with its lack of policies and support for refugees. The enactment and implementation of the Refugee Act was the last bastion that allowed the Korean government to pretend they had an advanced refugee resettlement program in Asia.
The National Assembly must play its role in retaining the will and value of the Refugee Act enacted in 2012. The Refugee Act, as a human rights law, should no longer retreat, but advance, as a law that protects the rights of refugees.
We strongly condemn the government promoting legislation by inciting hatred instead of preventing it and taking appropriate measures. Korean civil society, in solidarity, will not stand by and watch the reformed Refugee Act bill, proposed to expel refugees, pass. The government should immediately drop the racism-promoting reform bill of the Refugee Act.
