Unidentified Yemeni asylum seekers leave the immigration office on the southern island of Jeju after receiving humanitarian stay permits on Sept. 14, 2018. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Ever since South Korea became the first Asian country to introduce the Refugee Act in 2012, there has been an increasing number of refugees settling in the country.
Now, public opinion remains split on whether to lower the social hurdles for accepting refugees or implement stricter requirements for recognizing asylum seekers as refugees in consideration of the rising cost of social welfare and disapproving public opinion.
Those who wish to lower the social hurdles for refugees criticize the country’s low recognition rate, which is far below the world average and emphasizes the need to protect their human rights.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that South Korea recognized 1.3 percent of asylum seekers as refugees between 2010 and 2020, which is the second-lowest rate among all Group of 20 (G20) member states after Japan (0.3 percent).
“The low recognition rate can be blamed on the perception that refugees are seen as immigrants, not a human rights issue,” attorney Kim Se-jin said. “We should first change our perception about refugees and their deliberation process.”
Those who oppose the inflow of refugees argue that the plunging recognition rate since 2019 is attributed not to stricter requirements, but to a large number of unqualified asylum seekers flocking to the country.
Protesters calling for the deportation of what they call fake refugees during their rally in central Seoul on Oct. 20, 2018. (Yonhap)
“Migrant workers have been cut off from traveling overseas following the pandemic, and many of them struggle to find jobs in their home countries. So, they are now abusing the refugee system to extend their stay in the country,” said Lee Hyong-oh, head of the group National Action Against Refugees.
South Korean refugee laws allow asylum seekers to stay in the country for six months, which can be extended if they failed to receive deliberations within that period. They are also allowed to work in certain sectors.
Others point out the need to consider the disapproving public opinion on refugees.
When the Yemeni refugee crisis broke out in 2018 in Jeju, more than 700,000 people signed a petition opposing the entry of Yemeni asylum seekers.
“The Afghans who entered the country in August of last year are basically refugees, but the government called them ‘special contributors’, an immigration status that did not exist before, to cater to public opinion,” an expert said on condition of anonymity.
“That’s more than enough for us to see how public opinion disapproves of refugees.”
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
