Q1. Please introduce yourself briefly!
Hello, I am Hwang Su-bin, a MAP volunteer in the first half of 2023 and a student majoring in Western history at Seoul National University. I am truly glad to be carrying out meaningful and enjoyable activities here with such wonderful people ☺️
Q2. Please tell us why you joined MAP and what you do.
I have long been very interested in the human rights of migrants and refugees and have conducted research from various angles. There was a certain joy in that process, but I always held on to the regret that I wished there were opportunities for more direct activities to help migrants and refugees. Around then I happened to come across MAP’s call for volunteers and applied, and I am grateful that I have continued my activities until now.
I currently belong to the Peace Board and support the capacity-building education programme for newly settled refugees. Our team carries out various activities, including the “Living in Korea for Refugees” education programme, with the goal of empowering newly settled refugees so that they can adapt well and live in Korean society. So far I have researched the stance of each city and county in Gyeonggi Province on childcare fee support policies for foreign children, mapped school violence and sexual violence support centres across the country that teenage migrants can use, and conducted reference research for the Peace Board website and the “Living in Korea for Refugees” education programme. These activities are sometimes difficult and daunting, but if my work can help refugees in Korea even a little, that in itself would make me truly happy!
Q3. Fill in the blank: “I want to be a volunteer who is 000”!
I want to be a volunteer with a cool head but a warm heart. By having a warm heart that empathises with the situations of migrants and refugees and can put itself in their position, and at the same time a cool head that finds the best ways to improve their human rights, I want to work to improve the treatment of migrants and refugees.
Q4. What is your hidden charm that people do not know about?
Many people tell me that my impression, and the way I appear in formal settings, looks very cold. But my close friends say that even though I seem cool on the outside, I am actually affectionate and warm. Perhaps that hidden warmth is my charm ☺️
Q5. Finally, what “change” do you want to bring about through your work at MAP?
I want to help improve the treatment of refugees in Korea through my work at MAP. Although Korea joined the Refugee Convention and the Refugee Protocol in 1992, I have always held the awareness that it is a country where a low refugee recognition rate of about 1.5% on average and an absurdly insufficient level of treatment of refugees are taken for granted. In fact, I have conducted many studies proposing various legal improvements for this purpose, and because MAP’s activities allow me to give refugees more direct help, I definitely want to achieve an improvement in their treatment.
