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URGENT ACTION

TRADE UNIONIST AT RISK OF FORCED DEPORTATION

Michel Catuira, President of the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants’ Trade Union (MTU) in South Korea is at risk of being deported. The Korea Immigration Service has told him that he must leave the country by 7 March or he will become undocumented and subject to forcible deportation. Amnesty International believes he has been targeted for his role in the MTU.

As of 7 March 2011, Michel Catuira, a 38-year-old Filipino national and President of the MTU, will be subject to forcible deportation from South Korea. The government of South Korea refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the MTU and has staged a number of crackdowns on its leaders since it was founded in 2005.

The harassment of Michel Catuira began in July 2010. The Ministry of Employment and Labour ordered him and his employer to appear for an interview under suspicion of a false employment relationship. The Ministry did not find any prosecutable violation of labour or immigration law. However, it found that Caturia’s workplace, a shoe factory, had little business. As the main goal of the Employment Permit System (EPS) is to provide foreign labour to companies with labour shortages, the Ministry sent a memo to Michel Catuira’s employer suggesting that they file a change of workplace for him.

In November 2010, Michel Catuira was called to appear before an investigation team of the Korea Immigration Service on “suspicion of violation of the Immigration Control Act in the course of applying for a workplace transfer and with relation to actual performance of work duties at present”.  They concluded that he was not working at the shoe factory, thus, the grounds for his work visa was “deceitful”, in breach of article 89.1 of the Immigration Control Act. On 10 February, the immigration authorities cancelled his visa, and on 14 February, he was told that he had until 7 March to leave South Korea.

The MTU has been very vocal during the past few years in favour of the respect, protection and promotion of the rights of migrant workers in South Korea. In particular the MTU has spoken out against restrictions placed on migrant workers’ freedom to change workplaces and against immigration raids, which have resulted in arbitrary arrests, collective expulsions and violations of law enforcement procedures, including the excessive use of force.

 PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in English, Korean or your own language, urging the authorities of South Korea to:

n  Restore Michel Catuira’s visa status and refrain from forcibly deporting him;

n  Immediately stop all practices which result in obstacles or deterrents to actively participating in trade unions;

n  Immediately remove obstacles to participating in the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants’ Trade Union (MTU), in particular by recognizing its status as a legal union in South Korea in line with domestic and international law and standards.

 

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 07 MARCH 2011 TO:


Chief Commissioner of the Korea Immigration Service

SEOK Dong-hyun

Korea Immigration Service

1-19 Gwacheon, NC Building 8th Floor

Byeolyang-dong, Gwacheon

Gyeonggi Province 427-705

Republic of Korea     

Fax: +82-2-500-9097/9059

Salutation: Dear Commissioner

 

Minister of Justice

LEE Kwi-nam        

Ministry of Justice

Gwacheon Government Complex

88 Gwanmoon-ro, Gwacheon

Gyeonggi Province 427-720

Republic of Korea  

Fax: +82-2-503-3532/7023

Email:     webmaster@moj.go.kr

Salutation: Dear Minister

 

And copies to:

Minister of Employment and Labour

Bahk Jae-wan       

Ministry of Employment and Labour

Gwacheon Government Complex

88 Gwanmoon-ro, Gwacheon

Gyeonggi Province 427-718

Republic of Korea

Fax: +82-2-503-6623

Email: molab506@moel.go.kr


Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

URGENT ACTION

TRADE UNIONIST AT RISK OF FORCED DEPORTATION

ADditional Information

Michel Catuira has been in South Korea since February 2006 as a documented migrant worker employed under the Employment Permit System (EPS). He was employed at a shoe factory in Seoul. He became President of the Migrants’ Trade Union (MTU) in July 2009.

The South Korean government has arrested and deported several leaders of the MTU since it was founded in 2005. The targeted nature of these actions indicates that the authorities are attempting to stop the MTU from conducting its legitimate union activities.

The South Korean authorities arrested MTU’s first president, Anwar Hossain, a Bangladeshi national, for being in an irregular status soon after the union was founded. On 14 May 2005, more than 20 police and immigration officials arrested and reportedly physically assaulted Anwar Hossain. Eleven months later, Anwar Hossain was released on bail citing “a temporary cancellation of detention” so he could receive medical treatment for a mental condition that he suffered during detention. When he returned to Bangladesh in August 2007 he was detained by the Bangladeshi authorities and questioned on his “anti-government activities” in South Korea.

MTU’s second president Kajiman Khapung, as well as the vice-president and general secretary were all arrested on 27 November 2007 on grounds of their irregular status. The three leaders were taken to a Cheongju detention centre in North Chungcheon province and later deported to their countries of origin on 13 December 2007.

The MTU’s third president was arrested on 2 May 2008 along with the vice-president. Both were arrested on the basis of their irregular status. They were detained at Cheongju detention centre and deported on 15 May 2008, despite a call by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea for a stay of deportation until it could investigate allegations of abuse during the arrest.

The Seoul High Court issued a judgement on 1 February 2007 calling for the cancellation of the rejection by the authorities of the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants’ Trade Union’s Notice of Founding a Union. This ruling, in effect, recognizes and thereby realizes the MTU as a union representing the rights of all migrant workers, regardless of their status. The Ministry of Labour appealed against this decision to the Supreme Court where a ruling is still pending.

In November 2009, both the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued recommendations to the South Korean government recognizing the right of all migrant workers, regardless of visa status, to freedom of association. Further, the two bodies recommended that the South Korean government immediately stop using immigration procedures, such as arrest and deportation, against MTU officers. The ILO has continued to issue similar recommendations since that time, which the government has clearly not heeded.

Amnesty International believes that this is the latest attempt by the South Korean authorities to crackdown on the activities of the MTU and to threaten migrant workers’ rights, including the right to freedom of association and, in particular, to form trade unions. The rights to independent association, collective bargaining and collective action are protected in the Constitution of South Korea and apply to everyone, without discrimination, including migrant workers.

 

UA: 34/11 Index: ASA 25/001/2011 Issue Date: 18 February 2011

 

이주노조 위원장 강제출국위험에 놓이다

 

 

미셀 카투이라 서울경기인천 이주노동자 노동조합(이하 이주노조)위원장이 강제출국 될 위험에 놓여있다.

 

서울출입국관리사무소는 미셀 위원장의 체류허가를 취소하고, 37일까지 출국하지 않는다면 그에게 미등록이주노동자로 강제출국을 당하게 될 것이라고 통보했다. 국제앰네스티는 그가 노조활동으로 인해 표적이 된 것으로 보고 있다.

 

필리핀 국적의 이주노동자조합 위원장 미셀 카투이라(38) 2011 3 7일 한국에서 강제출국될 위험에 놓여있다. 한국정부는 이주노조의 합법성을 인정하기를 거부하고 있으며, 2005년 노조가 설립된 이후로 이주노조 위원장에 대한 표적수사와 단속을 여러 차례 감행했다.

 

미셀 위원장에 대한 탄압은 2010 7월 시작됐다. 고용노동부 장관은 미셀과 사업장 업주에게 고용관계가 위조되었다는 혐의를 조사하기 위해 소환을 통보했다. 당시 노동부는 출입국법과 노동법 상 처벌 가능한 어떠한 위법사실도 밝혀내지 못한바 있다.

 

그러나 당국은 미셀이 일하던 신발공장의 일감이 거의 없다는 것을 발견했다. 고용허가제의 원래 목적은 노동력이 부족한 기업에 외국인 노동자들을 제공하기 위한 것이므로 노동부는 미셀의 고용주에게 공문를 보내 그의 직장을 변경하라고 권고했다.

 

2010 11월 미셀 위원장은등록된 작업장에서 실제로 근로활동에 종사하지 않았으며, 작업장변경신청 과정에서 출입국관리법을 위반했다는 혐의로 서울출입국관리사무소의 이민특수조사대에 소환되었다.

 

그들은 미셀이 신발공장에서 일하고 있지 않으며 따라서 출입국법 제89조 제1항에 의하여 그가위장취업으로 비자를 받았다는 결론을 내렸다. 지난 2 10일 서울출입국관리소는 그의 비자를 취소하고  14일 미셀에게 오는3 7일 까지 출국할 것을 명령했다.

 

지난 몇 년 간 이주노조는 한국내의 이주노동자들의 인권존중보호 그리고 권익증진을 위해 목소리를 높여왔다. 특히, 자의적 체포, 집단 추방, 그리고 경찰력의 과도한 사용을 포함한 법집행 절차의 위반 등을 야기하는 이민자들에 대한 과잉단속과 작업장변경의 자유제한에 대해 강력하게 반대입장을 표명해왔다. 

 

 

탄원내용

 

 

다음과 같은 내용을 담아 영어, 또는 한국어로 탄원편지를 작성해주세요.

 

1.        미셀 카투이라의 체류신분을회복시키고, 강제 추방을 그만두며,

        Restore Michel Catuira’s visa status and refrain from forcibly deporting him;

 

2.        이주노조에 적극적으로 참여하는 것을 방해하거나 억제하는 모든 정책들을 즉각 중지하고,

        Immediately stop all practices which result in obstacles or deterrents to    

        actively participating in trade unions;

 

3.        이주노조의 적극적인 참여를 막는 장애물들을 즉각 제거하고, 특히 국내법과 국제법, 그리고

        국제기준에 따라 이주노조를 한국의 합법적 노동조합으로서 인정해 줄 것을 촉구합니다. 

        Immediately remove obstacles to participating in the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon

        Migrants’ Trade Union (MTU), in particular by recognizing its status as a legal                  

       union in South Korea in line with domestic and international law and standards.

 

앰네스티 홈페이지에서도 확인가능합니다.

http://www.amnesty.or.kr/d_mem_act/d02_write.htm?method=boardView&petno=801#none

 

홈페이지에 오셔서 우측 메뉴 중 탄원편지쓰기-긴급구명활동으로 오시면 됩니다.