Justice Ministry Discounts the Claim

By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter

An association for 20,000 foreign English teachers said Wednesday they will fight against discrimination in Korea, indicating they will step up their crusade against proposed legislation requiring them to submit drug tests and criminal background checks. However, Ministry of Justice downplayed the action.

The association issued a statement to protest a proposed revision to the Immigration Law proposed by 18 lawmakers last December, and now pending at the National Assembly, which would require all foreigners seeking Korean work visas to undergo drug tests and criminal background checks as a ``measure to deal with the threat foreign workers pose to society's public order and people's health.''

It filed complaints with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK), claiming the government's visa regulations were discriminative. They also vowed to launch a campaign against the discrimination.

``The current drugs tests, HIV tests and criminal background checks are discriminatory. They reflect a mindset that foreign teachers are potentially dangerous just because they are foreign,'' said Tony Hellmann, the communication director of the Association for Teachers of English in Korea (ATEK).

In response, the Ministry of Justice said there was no possibility that the human right agency would rule that the visa regulation was discriminative.
``A visa policy is a country's own right. You cannot blame a country for controlling the entry of foreign nationals,'' said Kim Young-guen, a ministry official.

NHRCK officials said it takes normally around six months to decide on whether a bill infringes upon human rights.

So far, the government has required E-2 visa applicants to submit documents on criminal records and health checks since December 2007, after the arrest of a pedophile suspect Christopher Neil in Thailand who had taught children in Korea. Ironically, Neil did not have a criminal record.

In response, many E-2 visa holders have complained that the government should apply the same visa screening rules to foreign English teachers holding other visas. They are urging the government to use the same restrictions on teachers holding E-1 (professorship), F-2 (spouse of a Korean) or F-4 (ethnic Korean) visas.

``The visa rules for E-2 visa holders should be revised as they clearly discriminate on the basis of national origin,'' said Benjamin Wanger, a professor of Kyung Hee University. He filed the complaint with the human right agency.

ATEK made it clear that they don't oppose background checks per se.

``The goal is to increase the quality of all teachers and to increase the protection of all children in Korea,'' Wagner said. ``Many overseas residents married to Koreans are themselves parents of a new generation of bi-racial Korean children. Equal testing procedures are the best way to accomplish that goal.''

ATEK has already posted an ``Equal Checks for All'' campaign page on its Web site. The site directs teachers to file an online complaint with the NHRCK. It is linked to the online complaint submission form and provides suggestions for what complainants might want to say. The Human Rights Commission investigates all complaints filed; the United Nations Committee on the Ending of All Forms of Racial Discrimination monitors the number of complaints.

``Large numbers of complaints will show the UN that there is a problem here,'' Hellmann said. ``We urge all teachers to exercise the rights granted them under the Korean constitution, and fill out the online form. It takes only five minutes and the Commission does not share your name or identifying information with any other government agencies. Your complaint is anonymously investigated.''

kswho@koreatimes.co.kr