In an editorial the S.K. "left-liberal" daily Hankyoreh demanded yesterday:
Another indiscriminate crackdown on unregistered migrant workers was started again. The day before yesterday, the Ministry of Justice and police arrested some 130 migrant workers in Gyeonggi Province’s Namyangju City and Yeoncheon County. This brutal crackdown was aimed at achieving tangible results as part of an internal target to arrest and expel some 20,000 unregistered migrant workers by the end of this year.
Some said this crackdown was like a military operation. When police officers sealed off a small street, blocking a group of migrant workers, immigration officials from the Justice Ministry arrested them (*). It is inhumane and goes against human rights. This particular approach is highly likely to cause accidents or injuries. In January, an ethnic Korean migrant worker from China died after falling off an eight-story building to avoid detention during a similar crackdown. In April, a Bangladeshi worker was seriously injured after falling off a three-story building. During the crackdown two days ago, five migrant workers were wounded, including a Cameroonian worker whose ankle was broken. Such a fox hunt, which could cause the death of a worker, should be stopped immediately.
Undocumented migrant workers, estimated to total some 220,000 people in South Korea, lose their legal status as a result of the government’s deplorable policy. Authorities ban migrant workers from moving to other factories, despite the fact that they receive far lower wages than Korean workers. Just when they get used to their work, the work permit system requires that they return to their nations. Unless the government revises the work permit system and discriminatory wage structure, it will be impossible to reduce the number of undocumented migrant workers. With those fundamental problems continually ignored, strengthening the crackdown can’t fix things.
It is time to change our fundamental view of migrant workers. Regardless of their legal status, migrant workers contribute to the society in many ways. They help small and medium-sized businesses, which are struggling with the economic malaise, as well as the areas where they live, by stimulating their local economies. People have the right to live where they want. Undocumented migrant workers should be given legal status, not expelled.
Stop the Crackdowns on Migrant Workers!
Another indiscriminate crackdown on unregistered migrant workers was started again. The day before yesterday, the Ministry of Justice and police arrested some 130 migrant workers in Gyeonggi Province’s Namyangju City and Yeoncheon County. This brutal crackdown was aimed at achieving tangible results as part of an internal target to arrest and expel some 20,000 unregistered migrant workers by the end of this year.
Some said this crackdown was like a military operation. When police officers sealed off a small street, blocking a group of migrant workers, immigration officials from the Justice Ministry arrested them (*). It is inhumane and goes against human rights. This particular approach is highly likely to cause accidents or injuries. In January, an ethnic Korean migrant worker from China died after falling off an eight-story building to avoid detention during a similar crackdown. In April, a Bangladeshi worker was seriously injured after falling off a three-story building. During the crackdown two days ago, five migrant workers were wounded, including a Cameroonian worker whose ankle was broken. Such a fox hunt, which could cause the death of a worker, should be stopped immediately.
Undocumented migrant workers, estimated to total some 220,000 people in South Korea, lose their legal status as a result of the government’s deplorable policy. Authorities ban migrant workers from moving to other factories, despite the fact that they receive far lower wages than Korean workers. Just when they get used to their work, the work permit system requires that they return to their nations. Unless the government revises the work permit system and discriminatory wage structure, it will be impossible to reduce the number of undocumented migrant workers. With those fundamental problems continually ignored, strengthening the crackdown can’t fix things.
It is time to change our fundamental view of migrant workers. Regardless of their legal status, migrant workers contribute to the society in many ways. They help small and medium-sized businesses, which are struggling with the economic malaise, as well as the areas where they live, by stimulating their local economies. People have the right to live where they want. Undocumented migrant workers should be given legal status, not expelled.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/321805.html
