Voices raised against target crackdown on undocumented migrant workers

Posted on : 2009-10-16 22:36 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
 Oct. 14.
Oct. 14.

Demands for rights for undocumented migrant workers who have become integrated members of civil society grow louder over the detention of a human rights activist

In the wake of a hurricane crackdowns on undocumented migrant workers and the detention of 33-year-old Nepali musician and cultural activist Minu (real name Minod Moktan) by the Korea Immigration Service, protests over target crackdowns are growing.

At a press conference Friday in front of the Hwaseong Immigration Detention Center in Gyeonggi Province, ”Free Minu! Stop Crackdown!” a coalition comprised of 23 groups, including the Migrant Workers Trade Union, declared, “South Korea, which proclaims itself to be a ‘warm multicultural society,’ must immediately release Minu.”

Prior to this recent target crackdown, the Korea Immigration Service had arrested and deported undocumented migrant workers who had served as leaders of the Migrants Trade Union, a union founded for and by migrants, in 2007 and 2008. According to representatives of migrant worker groups, Minu, who had been engaged in human rights activism, became a target after a recent election of documented migrant workers to positions of leadership.

Some labor analysts and human rights observers are commenting on the need for reevaluating positions on issues facing undocumented migrant workers as they have effectively become integrated members of Korean society. In Minu’s case, he immigrated to South Korea in 1992 and went to work at restaurants and sewing factories in the Uijeongbu area. During this time, he campaigned actively on social issues, produced a documentary on migrant worker human rights and served as head of the executive committee for the Migrant Worker Film Festival. He has also been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Grand Prize at the Foreign Artists Competition, and was awarded a plaque of appreciation from the Minister of Culture in 1999.

Target crackdowns that have occurred in the wake of President Lee Myung-bak’s remark last March that “illegal residents should not be allowed to just strut around” have been widely condemned by human rights and labor organizations around the world. Representatives at the press conference say, “This pattern of target crackdown has become so obvious that it has induced intervention on the parts of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants and the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association.” The number of deported migrant workers has gone up from around 20 thousand a year during the Roh Moo-hyun administration to 32 thousand last year under the Lee administration. As of late July 2009, some 17 thousand have lost their jobs and were deported.

In addition, reports of serious human rights violations that have taken place during the Justice Ministry’s crackdowns, including a steady number of cases of undocumented migrant workers suffering from injuries, dying, and committing suicide while being held in detention, are surfacing. For instance, during 2009, a woman worker from China was struck in the throat while handcuffed, and another worker from China had her ankle broken.

Lawyer Jang Seo-yeon said, “The government knows that despite efforts to deport undocumented migrant workers, their numbers are increasing and workers are being replaced due to needs in South Korea's economy.” Jang commented, “The situations calls for systemic institutional improvements.”

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

Most viewed articles