Small business closures put migrant workers at risk
of becoming undocumented
Migrant workers unable to find new jobs within 2 months after becoming unemployed are barred from employment and deported
As an increasing number of small businesses have begun shutting their doors at an increasing rate since the middle of last year, the migrant workers working for them are increasingly at risk of becoming undocumented immigrants. Under the a law governing migrant worker employment permits, migrant workers have to get new jobs within two months after becoming unemployed, a task that is becoming more and more difficult in today’s economy.
A total of 608 manufacturers in the two cities of Ansan and Siheung, which have large populations of migrant workers, suspended their businesses last December according to the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business. That number is nearly 30 times higher than the approximately 20 companies suspending their business per month in the first half of 2008.
The number of migrant workers informing the government of employment changes was also on the rise, reflecting the trend toward suspension of business. The number of migrant workers changing companies was 6,745 as of December 2008, compared with 1,684 as of January 2007, according to data from the Ministry of Labor.
As more small businesses temporarily or permanently close up shop, an increasing number of migrant workers is facing layoffs and will be forced to find new jobs.
Migrant workers who have lost their jobs line up for work at regional labor support centers even now. An official at one such center said, “The number of requests from migrant workers for employment support seems to have doubled or tripled. Many seem desperate to find jobs because they know they will become illegal immigrants if they are unable to find new jobs within two months.”
Under Article No. 25 of the Act Concerning Employment Permits for Migrant Workers, migrant workers must report changes of employment to the Ministry of Labor within two months of the change. If they miss the deadline or change jobs three times, they are barred from employment in South Korea and deported.
Lee Young, a senior official with the Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea, said, “With the current regulation, which requires the government to deport migrant workers when they are unable to find a new job within two months, it’s like the government is throwing migrant workers away, just as one would throw away an old hat. It is necessary to change the policy to delay deportation so that migrant workers can look for work.”
In a press conference on March 5, the Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea, the Alliance for Human Rights of Migrant Workers and the Labor Union of Migrant Workers and other civic organizations advocating for the rights of migrant workers urged the government not to make migrant workers a scapegoat of the economic crisis. The country’s social burdens should not be passed on to migrant workers, they said, and demanded that the government stop crackdowns on undocumented migrant workers and scrap the limit on the job seeking period.
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