A total of 22 refugees from Myanmar arrived in South Korea, officials said Wednesday, becoming the first beneficiaries of Seoul’s new resettlement program for refugees. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) - A total of 22 refugees from Myanmar arrived in South Korea, officials said Wednesday, becoming the first beneficiaries of Seoul’s new resettlement program for refugees.
The refugees, four different families, had been staying at refugee camps in Thailand to avoid suppression in Myanmar before being allowed to fly to South Korea.
The refugees will be provided with F-2 residency visas, Justice Ministry officials said.
South Korea introduced the refugee program earlier this year to accept up to 30 refugees from Myanmar every year until 2017 on a trial basis. It plans to decide whether to formally keep the refugee program after closely monitoring the situation.
A total of 22 refugees from Myanmar arrived in South Korea, officials said Wednesday, becoming the first beneficiaries of Seoul’s new resettlement program for refugees. (Image : Yonhap)
The move came five months after South Korea signed a deal with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the resettlement of refugees staying at foreign refugee camps who are willing to transfer to another country.
Currently, South Korea begins screening refugees only after the application is filed in South Korea.
South Korea has so far granted refugee status to 522 people out of more than 12,200 asylum seekers since 1994 when South Korea began to accept applications from asylum seekers.’
(Yonhap)
