By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
A Christian Myanmar citizen has earned refugee status in South Korea for probable religious persecution in his home state.
The Seoul Administrative Court stated that Monday it granted refugee status to the asylum seeker, identified only as "H," overturning a decision by the Ministry of Justice. His identity was withheld due to safety concerns.
Only a limited number of asylum seekers have been approved by the ministry; it is also not easy to see their claims accepted by the court because of rigid guidelines that must be met.
The Korea Immigration Service has yet to decide whether to appeal the court decision. Given previous cases, however, this is likely. He filed a suit with the court late last year after the ministry rejected his claim.
"It's creditable that the asylum seeker entered the country to avoid physical persecutions in Myanmar for his belief in Christianity," presiding judge Lee Jin-man said in a ruling. "In Korea, he has also engaged in pro-democracy activities against the Myanmar authorities as leader of a coalition of small tribes there. Plus, his identification seems to have been made public after he staged a rally in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Seoul."
According to the court, the Myanmar Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and private belief, but the military junta that has governed the Buddhism-dominant country for decades has forced members of small tribes and those believing in other religions to convert to Buddhism. In 2005, the military junta detained nearly 10,000 leaders of small tribes at labor camps for their refusal to convert, the court added.
The verdict in favor of the asylum seeker came after the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) praised South Korea in a statement issued last month for granting citizenship to a 38-year-old Ethiopian refugee.
South Korea joined the U.N. Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees in 1992.
In the statement, UNHCR described the unprecedented decision as a "highly significant milestone in Asia," encouraging other Asian countries to take inspiration from the case.
미얀마르 출신의 기독교인 한 사람이 본국에서 종교적 박해를 들어 한국에서 난민 지위를 얻었다.
서울 행정법원은 월요일 1차 심사를 한 법무부의 결정을 뒤엎고 망명을 구한 H씨에게 난민 지위를 허용했다. 안전을 이유로 이름은 밝히지 않았다.
극히 일부 망명 요청자들만 법무부로부터 이 같은 지위를 부여받았으며 거부당한 많은 사람들이 법원에 소를 제기했다.
그는 법무부가 난민 지위 요청을 거부하자 지난 해 말 법원에 항소를 냈다.