[No. 24-12_Human Rights #1]
Hello, this is MAP(Migration to Asia Peace) Refugee News📰
❗Breaking News❗
On April 3, 2024 (Wednesday) at 11 a.m., a joint press conference by Migrant Human Rights Organizations in South Korea was held in front of the Seodaemun Police Headquarters.
Summarizing the claims, they state: “Arrest and investigate Park Jin-jae, who hunts undocumented migrants, and reform police operations to prevent such private violence in the future.”
Let’s take a look at the press conference statement!
Arrest and investigate Park Jin-jae for committing illegal arrests and violence against undocumented migrants!
A Joint Press Conference
by Migrant Human Rights Organizations in South Korea
The Liberty Unification Party’s candidate Park Jin-Jae, who ran in the Daegu region in the 22nd general election, has been engaging in private illegal arrest activities mainly targeting undocumented migrants through an organization called the ‘Citizen’s Protection Solidarity’. They conduct human hunting by forcibly apprehending migrants, checking their identification cards, subduing them if undocumented, and then handing them over to the police. They even go as far as to enter migrants’ residences and exercise violence. How on earth can the Right-wing extremist violence be carried out in broad daylight in 21st-century Korea? Does it even make sense to subject only undocumented migrants who are living in the most vulnerable situations, to such violence?
According to the petition of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Migrant Organizations Network submitted to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, they are committing widespread human rights violations nationwide. They carry out violent acts such as attacking gatherings of migrants, randomly inspecting identification cards, detaining individuals, and unlawfully entering residences to block entry and exit. Moreover, they openly post such actions on social media platforms, exposing the appearance of migrants without consent.
Such actions are illegal detention, threats, assault, arrest, home invasion, and defamation. It’s civilians taking the law into their own hands instead of letting the police enforce it. It is inhumane and despicable violence targeting the weakness of undocumented migrants, who lack knowledge of the legal system and suffer from anxiety. Numerous undocumented migrants have suffered because of them. The police have failed to prevent the illegal activities of ‘Park Jin-Jae’ and the ‘Citizen’s Protection Solidarity’. Furthermore, they have abandoned victims despite being obligated to protect them and failed to exempt them from notification of their unlawful presence. Rather, in the video, it appears that the police even arrested migrants by helping ‘Park Jin-Jae’ and the ‘Citizen’s Protection Solidarity’. The police have neglected their duty to protect human rights.
Are undocumented migrants not considered human beings with no rights? Are they facing private sanctions and arrests acceptable simply because they lack a visa? Private gatherings are taking the law into their own hands. If checking migrants’ IDs and threatening to arrest undocumented migrants is acceptable, isn’t it more like a savage jungle than a democratic society governed by the rule of law?
In addition to this case, people have taken advantage of the vulnerability of being undocumented to take money and resort to violence forcibly. The government must come up with measures to stop hatred, discrimination, violence, and exclusion. We strongly urge the arrest and investigation of ‘Park Jin-jae’, who conducts human hunting on undocumented migrants. We demand that the police correct their duties to ensure that undocumented migrants do not suffer from violence. Working guidelines should be established to prevent the notification of undocumented migrants who are victims of private arrest violence, and police officers should be trained accordingly. Immigration authorities should not deport migrants forcibly and free them from detention.
April 3, 2024
141 Migrant Human Rights Organizations in South Korea