[No. 24-16 Human Rights #4]
Hello, this is MAP Refugee News📰
Last Monday, a press conference was held. The purpose was to introduce the concept of a “Universal Birth Registration System,” allowing all children, including foreign-born children, to be registered immediately after birth. Let’s take a closer look at the press conference.
🔹 Birth registration is the starting point for children to enjoy their rights. Without birth registration, they have no protection against abuse, neglect, or illegal adoption.
🔹 For this reason, the international community has urged countries to adopt a “Universal Birth Registration System” to ensure the registration of all children immediately after birth. In November 2023, the UN Human Rights Committee urged the South Korean government to promptly enact the law on “Foreign Children’s Birth Registration,” currently awaiting approval in the National Assembly, and to ensure easy access to the application process for all foreign children and their guardians.
🔹 Immigrant children in Korea can only register their birth through their country’s diplomatic offices or by visiting their parents’ home country. Refugee children, humanitarian stay children, and children of parents residing in Korea without registration are not able to register their birth anywhere, and this problem has not been addressed at all.
🔹 This press conference aims to highlight the cases of foreign-born children who cannot prove their existence due to unregistered birth and to emphasize the need for the introduction of the “Universal Birth Registration System” and prompt action by the National Assembly.
🔹 Date: April 29, 2024 (Monday), 10:40 AM
🔹 Location: National Assembly Communication Hall
🔹 Hosts: Representative Kwon In-suk, Universal Birth Registration Network
The 21st National Assembly must strive until the end to enact legislation on foreign birth registration for the sake of children’s rights and the future of our society!
Universal Birth Registration Network, other advocacy organizations
We hope that the 21st National Assembly will not miss the last opportunity to legislate on the long-standing issue of “foreign children’s birth registration” in our society for over 10 years.
Until now, Korean law has only regulated the birth registration of Korean nationals, excluding foreign children. Therefore, Korea has been a country where children whose births are not registered anywhere live, and a country that talks about the necessity of child protection without fully recognizing their existence.
Over the past decade, numerous international human rights treaty bodies have repeatedly recommended guaranteeing the right to birth registration for all children within Korean territory. The Supreme Court reaffirmed in 2020 and the Constitutional Court in 2023 that children’s right to birth registration is a universal fundamental right. The Korean government has also repeatedly confirmed its willingness to ensure that foreign children can register their births by introducing a universal birth registration system.
There is no need to wait any longer. Two bills regarding the birth registration of foreign children have already been introduced in the National Assembly, and there have been thorough discussions in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. While a delicate policy design is needed to avoid further discrimination and human rights violations against foreign children, specific discussions can go after the enactment of the law. We cannot just wait for another few years until the next National Assembly session.
We strongly urge the 21st National Assembly to take responsibility for our society’s present, prepare for the future, and protect the human rights of all members of society. We call on the Assembly to make every effort to legislate on the birth registration of foreign children during its term.
April 29, 2024
Representing 69 organizations
including the Universal Birth Registration Network, the Korea Association of Child Welfare, and the Refugee Rights Network