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Refugees in South Korea

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South Korea joined the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1992 and became the first country in East Asia to enact its own refugee law in 2012.[1] According to the Ministry of Justice in South Korea, there has been 12,208 asylum applicants since 1992 and it accepted 522 (4.2% of the total applicants) as refugees.[2] The UNHCR categorized 44 industrialized countries in the world as refugees receiving countries.[citation needed] South Korea is one of the receiving countries in Asia-Pacific including Japan. The number of asylum applications in 2013 has increased by 85%; however, according to the Ministry of Justice in South Korea, the acceptance rate of refugees is 7.3% at the end of 2014.[3] UNHCR said among the Parties relating to the Status of Refugees, 38% of asylum seekers were accepted as refugees, which is Korea's acceptance is much lower than international standards.[4] The top nationality of asylum seekers in Korea is Pakistan (2,017) since 1994. The top three nationalities of people accepted as a refugee are Myanmar (154), Bangladesh (84), and Ethiopia (73). Refugees in Myanmar were accepted as a refugee because of political reasons but the number of refugees has decreased as the political situation in Myanmar has improved.[5]

The process of asylum applicants is very complicated in South Korea. Asylum seekers in South Korea are not allowed to get a job for the first 6 months, which prevent illegal stay for getting a job. They are not in the public health insurance system, as well. Korean government support living expenses to asylum seekers, but for only 7% of them because of lack of budget. It takes over a year to be decided as a refugee.[5] The asylum seekers have to be permitted to extend their residence for every 6 months, a year for people who are staying under humanitarian grounds.[6] However, it is hard to be performed precisely because there is not enough human resources for status determination.[7]

In 2018, 500 refugees fleeing the civil war in Yemen came to Jeju Island, causing unease among some of the residents of Jeju Island.[8][9][10][11][12][13] Among many activist groups and celebrities, Jung Woo-sung raised attention for the situation of the refugees and reaffirmed his support to them.[14][15]

See also

References

  1. ^ "South Korea: New Beacon for Refugees". Yaleglobal Online. 2013-09-12.
  2. ^ ""한국은 난민에게 인색한 나라?"…난민제도에 대한 오해와 진실(Misunderstanding and truth towards Refugees policies in South Korea)". 아시아투데이(Asiatoday). 2015-10-14.
  3. ^ "유럽의 시리아 난민 사태, 먼 나라 이야기일까(European Refugees crisis, there is no connection to Korea?)". 브레인미디어(Brainmedia). 2015-09-07.
  4. ^ "난민 신청 5년새 10배 늘었는데…인정률은 고작 0.9%(Asylum seekers has been increased to 10 times, the acceptance is only 0.9%)". 한국경제(Hankyung. 2015-09-08.
  5. ^ a b "난민 신청 100명 중 인정 5명도 안 돼, 문턱 높은 한국(less than 5% of acceptance rate as a refugee)". 평화신문. 2015-10-11.
  6. ^ "지중해 난민선처럼… 아무도 구하려 하지 않는 한국의 난민들 (There is no safety on Refugees in South Korea)". 한국일보(Hankook ilbo). 2015-05-06.
  7. ^ "S 테러 공포 확산, 한국 난민 정책에 대한 의견 분분(Controversy on Refugee policy in South Korea)". 아시아투데이(Asia Today). 2015-11-23.
  8. ^ Murphy, Brian (22 June 2018). "How hundreds of Yemenis fleeing the world's worst humanitarian crisis ended up on a resort island in South Korea". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  9. ^ "South Koreans outraged as 500 Yemeni refugees flee to island". Financial Times. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Yemeni refugees' fate tested on Jeju Island". Korea Times. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  11. ^ "South Korea to tighten laws amid influx of Yemeni asylum-seekers to resort island of Jeju". Straits Times. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Justice Ministry proposes reinforcement measures to amend refugee act". The Korea Herald. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  13. ^ "제주 온 예멘인 500여 명 난민 신청..엇갈리는 시선". 다음 뉴스 (in Korean). 2018-06-19. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  14. ^ "[JEJU FORUM] Actor brings attention to refugees' plight". Korea JoongAng Daily. 2018-06-25. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  15. ^ Dong Sun-hwa (2018-10-22). "Actor Jung Woo-sung reaffirms support for refugees". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  • NANCEN, Human Right for Refugees center in South Korea
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