Yemenis find hope and despair in Jeju
Journalist Esmail Alqublani fled Yemen after receiving threats. Courtesy of Esmail Alqublani
By Kang Aa-young
Many Yemeni asylum seekers see Jeju Island as something close to the last beacon of hope in their tiring journey for survival and a new life.
Esmail Alqublani, 30, is now on Jeju after leaving the Yemini city of Ibb for Malaysia, where he bought a one-way ticket to Korea.
“I left Yemen after receiving phone calls from someone threatening to kidnap and assault me,” he said.
In that situation, he couldn't do his job as a journalist.
“Yemen is not safe,” he said. “It was hard for me to leave but I had to for my life.”
A group of Yemenis attend a job consulting session on Jeju Island. Captured from YTN
Jeju is safer than Yemen but refugees like Alqublani are struggling with a minimum level of subsistence help while their requests for refugee status are under review.
As of Friday, Jeju has received 549 Yemeni refugee applications, including from 10 families with children.
Joseph Shin, head of a special committee established to resolve refugee issues on Jeju, said most refugees arrived with little money to live there for about a month.
“They have expectations to go to Seoul soon where there are communities to help them out with government-run shelters,” he said.
But refugees who recently arrived on the island cannot leave for the mainland due to the Ministry of Justice's decision not to grant them a permission to leave since April 30.
“When they run out of money to stay at a hotel, they move out to the streets and become homeless,” Shin said.
But there has been some good news for the refugees.
The government has made an unprecedented decision to allow them to work, which Alqublani called a “golden opportunity.”
The announcement of work being offered to Yemeni refugee applicants. Courtesy of Facebook 'Yemeni refugee' group
The Korea Immigration Service said Yemeni refugee applicants are instantly granted permission to work. In the past, they had to wait six months.
The measure was introduced because it is difficult for them to live only with governmental support.
The government arranged two job consultation programs, allowing them to work in industries such as aquaculture and hotels. The official expects 170 refugees to get a job with the first program.
Charities and volunteers are helping the refugees, with the Korean Red Cross taking care of 174 of them.
The Global Inner Peace, a nonprofit organization, also is helping while some expats on Jeju are providing shelter and food.
Choi eun-pa helped in Arabic to korean translation.