Hello, this is MAP Refugee News📰
On April 29, a press conference was held. Its purpose was to introduce the concept of a “universal birth registration system”, which allows all children, including children born to foreign parents, to be registered immediately after birth. Let us 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 guarantee that all children are registered immediately after birth. In November 2023, the UN Human Rights Committee called on the South Korean government to promptly enact the “Act on Birth Registration of Foreign Children”, currently awaiting approval in the National Assembly, and to guarantee easy access to the application process for all foreign children and their guardians. .
🔹 In Korea, immigrant children can register their birth only through the diplomatic missions of their country or by travelling to their parents’ country of origin. Refugee children, children with humanitarian stay status and children of parents residing in Korea without registration cannot register their birth anywhere, and this problem has not been resolved at all.
🔹 This press conference aims to highlight the cases of foreign children who cannot prove their existence because of an unregistered birth, and to stress the need to introduce a “Universal Birth Registration System” and for the National Assembly to act quickly.
🔹 Date: April 29, 2024 (Monday), 10:40
🔹 Venue: Communication Room of the National Assembly
🔹 Hosts: Representative Kwon In-suk, Universal Birth Registration Network
The 21st National Assembly Must Make Every Effort to Enact Legislation on Birth Registration for Foreign Children, for the Sake of Children’s Rights and the Future of Our Society!
Universal Birth Registration Network and other advocacy organisations
We (representing 69 organisations, including the Universal Birth Registration Network, the Korean Association for Child Protection and the Korea Refugee Rights Network (KORIN)) hope that the 21st National Assembly will not miss the last opportunity to legislate on the long-standing issue of “birth registration of foreign children” in our society, which has remained open for more than 10 years.
Until now, Korean legislation has regulated only the birth registration of Korean nationals, excluding foreign children. For this reason, Korea is a country where children live whose births are registered nowhere, and a country that speaks of the need for child protection without fully acknowledging their existence.
Over the past decade, many international human rights treaty bodies have repeatedly recommended guaranteeing the right to birth registration for all children living in Korean territory. The Supreme Court reaffirmed in 2020, and the Constitutional Court in 2023, that the right of children to birth registration is a universal fundamental right. The Korean government has also confirmed several times 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 on the birth registration of foreign children have already been submitted to the National Assembly, and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee has held in-depth discussions. While a careful institutional design is necessary to avoid further discrimination and human rights violations against foreign children, it is enough to continue specific discussions after the law is adopted. We cannot wait another few years until the next session of the National Assembly.
We strongly urge the 21st National Assembly to take responsibility for the present of our society, to prepare for the future and to protect the human rights of all members of society. We call on the Assembly to do everything in its power to legislate on the birth registration of foreign children during its term.
April 29, 2024