[No. 25-12 HR#9]
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The Korea Civil Society Coalition for Responding to the Review of the 20th–22nd Reports under the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (hereinafter the “CERD Response Civil Society Coalition”) held a rally in front of the Broken Chair at the United Nations Office at Geneva (Palais des Nations), Switzerland, at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 (Geneva local time; 5:30 p.m. Korean time). The rally was prepared to coincide with the review of the Republic of Korea’s 20th–22nd reports by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (hereinafter the “Committee”), held over two days from Tuesday, April 29 to Wednesday, April 30, and to publicize the on-site activities of Korean civil society, which aim to call the international community’s attention to racial discrimination and migrants’ rights in Korea and to elicit effective recommendations from the Committee.
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On March 31, the CERD Response Civil Society Coalition had earlier submitted a joint civil society report to the Committee, pointing out that the government of the Republic of Korea had not implemented most of the Committee’s 2018 recommendations and stressing the urgency of protecting migrants’ rights and improving discriminatory policies. As part of these activities, the Coalition sent a civil society delegation to Geneva, Switzerland. In addition to responding to the review, the delegation plans to hold meetings with Special Rapporteurs in various fields, including racism, trafficking in persons and minority rights, and to take part in informal briefings and a luncheon with Committee members.
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In particular, the civil society delegation stated that, through its on-site activities, it will do its best to convey relevant information to the Committee so that the following major issues can be examined in depth during this review under the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: enactment of a comprehensive anti-discrimination law, guaranteeing the rights of migrant workers and creating a safe working environment, measures against incitement to hatred and hate speech toward migrants, protection of migrants in disasters and crises, guaranteeing the right to education of migrant children and securing the stability of residence of marriage migrants, social security for migrants, and violent crackdowns on and restrictions on the detention of undocumented migrants.
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The review of the Republic of Korea under the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination for the 20th–22nd reports begins at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 (Geneva local time; 10:00 p.m. Korean time). The civil society delegation will take part in the review held over the two days from Tuesday, April 29 to Wednesday, April 30, and plans to work actively to raise current issues of racial discrimination in Korean society and violations of migrants’ rights, and to elicit specific recommendations. After the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’s review of Korea, the concluding recommendations are usually announced within about one week after the review ends. In particular, attention is focused on the outcome because this review will produce the first official recommendations the UN issues since hate speech and incitement to hatred against migrants became severe amid the recent political instability in Korea. End.
Korea Civil Society Coalition for Responding to the Review of the 20th–22nd Reports under the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (119 organizations in total)