By Drew Calhoun
The UNESCO-sponsored World Conference against Racism, held from April 20 to 24 in Geneva, was largely overshadowed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's anti-Semitic speech and the resulting walkout by participating delegates from the EU.
This is a shame, for the diplomatic row took attention away from a number of important themes on the agenda. In particular, concern was raised over the current economic crisis and the effect that economic pressure and growing unemployment would have on the treatment of migrant workers around the world.
Indeed, there are growing signs that the seriousness of the global recession is causing governments to put the fight against racial discrimination and xenophobia on the back burner while they patch up their flagging economies.
For instance, Japan is in the midst of putting into effect a massive repatriation plan aimed at enticing thousands of Latin American guest workers to leave Japanese soil. The plan offers migrant workers financial incentives to go back to their home countries with the understanding that they will not be allowed to seek employment in Japan ever again. The senior LDP lawmaker who led the task force on repatriation, Jiro Kawasaki, used the occasion to express his belief that Japan should never become a multiethnic society.
Korea is also facing an emerging debate over how it should prioritize employment opportunities and living standards for guest workers while unemployment figures for Korean nationals are on the rise.
According to the National Statistical Office, the country had shed 195,000 jobs from March 2008 to March 2009, and this has been reflected in the Labor Ministry's decision to drastically reduce its quota on the number of foreign laborers to be let into the country. Whereas the quota stood at 72,000 workers last year, it has been hacked to just 34,000 for 2009. Even stronger measures were enacted for ethnic Koreans from China who arrived in 2009 as they are no longer permitted to apply for construction jobs.
The idea here is that the Korean government has a responsibility to protect as many jobs as possible for its own citizens, and thus, guest workers must regrettably feel the brunt of the economic downturn. However, this logic is questionable as very few Korean nationals would be willing to work the 3-D (dirty, dangerous, and difficult) jobs which foreign laborers have traditionally occupied unless large pay increases were offered. Given that many of these jobs are in small and medium sized enterprises, which are already hindered by low profit margins, pay raises are unlikely.
Furthermore, any attempt to reduce immigration numbers runs the risk of sacrificing Korea's long-term prospects for short-term gains. Like Japan, Korea is mulling over just how it intends to cope with an aging population and a depressingly low birthrate. Discouraging immigration hardly seems the solution.
Yet, there's a real possibility that the low immigration quotas are merely a reflection of a more deep-seated national sentiment of anxiety toward foreign workers during this time of economic stress. The danger then is that the recession could be used as a pretext for acts that would further strain the already turbulent relationship that Korea has with its migrant workforce.
Recently, this newspaper reported on a bill that will be submitted to the National Assembly in May that, if passed, would not only implement fingerprinting for foreign residents, but also enable non-Koreans to be summoned for questioning without a warrant. Another article also reported that crimes committed by non-Koreans rose significantly in 2008, citing a source which noted that the crime rate was higher for foreigners than it was for Koreans and that the National Police Agency would take appropriate countermeasures. What's disturbing about these latest developments is that they place the Korean non-Korean interrelationship very much in an ``us versus them'' rather than an ``us and them'' context.
No doubt, this is going to be a hard year for many Koreans as the country grapples with the realities of living in a recession. However, it would be very unfortunate to see Korea take a step backwards in its efforts to improve the lives of minority groups by taking an unwarranted antagonistic stance against foreigners in the name of protecting Korean citizens. Rather, what would be very much appreciated is a more conciliatory approach in which migrant workers are engaged in a meaningful and constructive manner.
Who knows? If these workers from abroad were provided with better support programs and made to feel like a part of the community, the crime rate among foreigners might just decrease, and the need to summon foreigners without a warrant might just be unnecessary.
Andrew Calhoun is a doctoral student at the Graduate School for International Studies at Yonsei University. He can be reached at redliondrew@hanmail.net.