hankyoreh

“Shameful” reads a message on a phone held by a Hanshin University student participating in a prayer gathering at the school’s Gyeonggi campus in Osan on Dec. 13 to denounce the forced expulsion of international students from the country. (Shin So-young/The Hankyoreh)

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea will investigate a scandal at Hanshin University in which Uzbek students at its Korean language academy say they were coerced into returning home early.

The commission accepted a petition about the incident and referred it to the relevant department on Monday. An investigator will be assigned to determine whether the students’ human rights were violated during the repatriation process.

On Nov. 27, Hanshin University herded 23 Uzbek students enrolled in its Korean language academy onto a bus after telling them they had to visit immigration to pick up their residence cards. But the bus was actually bound for Incheon International Airport, and the university forced 22 of the students (all except for one who appealed on health grounds) to depart the country on airplane tickets purchased in advance.

A recording from inside the bus shows university staff intimidating the students in the process by telling them that if they went to immigration, they would have to go to prison. Employees from a security firm apparently hired by the school also confiscated the students’ mobile phones.

Hanshin University said the students had gone home voluntarily, but students back in Uzbekistan countered that the school had compelled them to leave through physical force.

The incident is also being investigated by the police in Osan, Gyeonggi Province. The Osan police are seeking to determine whether the school resorted to compulsion in the repatriation process.

By Lee Jun-hee, staff reporter

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