This surge in Russian asylum seekers is comparable to the combined total of Russian applications from 1994 to 2019, a span of 26 years, which amounted to 5,814 applications. (Image courtesy of Pixabay)
SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – In 2023, South Korea witnessed a significant increase in refugee applications, with over 5,000 Russians seeking asylum, marking a record high.
According to a December report from the Ministry of Justice, a total of 18,838 refugee applications were filed throughout the year, showing a 63% increase from the 11,539 applications in 2022.
Russian nationals accounted for 5,750 of these applications, making up 30.5% of the total and representing a fivefold increase from the 1,038 applications in 2022.
This surge in Russian asylum seekers is comparable to the combined total of Russian applications from 1994 to 2019, a span of 26 years, which amounted to 5,814 applications.
The primary reasons cited for seeking refuge included ‘political opinion’, encompassing draft evasion, with 4,580 cases. This was followed by religion with 2,665 cases, belonging to a particular social group with 1,205 cases, family unification with 887 cases, and race with 719 cases.
The increase in Russian refugee applications is speculated to be driven by the ongoing Ukraine war and the fear of additional mobilization orders, leading many Russians to flee their country.
Reports by the BBC and Forbes have suggested that the number of Russians leaving the country since the outbreak of the Ukraine war could be in the hundreds of thousands to millions.
Despite the spike in applications, only 101 out of the 5,950 completed refugee assessments in the past year resulted in refugee status being granted, a mere 1.7% approval rate, which is less than half of the previous year’s rate of 3.6%.
Other countries with significant numbers of refugee applications following Russia included Kazakhstan with 2,094 applications, China with 1,282, Malaysia with 1,205, and India with 1,189 applications.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
