A group of Afghans who helped the Korean government over the past years and their families arrived here, Thursday. Of the total 391 subject to the evacuation, 378 came first by military aircraft via Pakistan and the remaining 13, who were forced to stay in Islamabad due to a shortage of seats in the KC-330 tanker, will be coming soon.
The Afghans will be transferred to the National Human Resources Development Institute in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, where they will stay for six weeks. The Korean government plans to provide them with F-2 long-term residency visas. To this end, it is seeking to revise the current immigration law.
We welcome the government's efforts to safely evacuate the Afghans who helped Korea's reconstruction projects in the war-torn country. The rescue has been all the more desperate as they were exposed to the threat of Taliban retaliation. It is natural for Korea to carry out the rescue operation to fulfill its humanitarian duty as a responsible member of the international community and its moral obligations.
Korea has long been participating in the nation-building projects led by the United States in Afghanistan. It is natural for the government to fulfill its duty to protect its supporters as they were in danger of possible Taliban retaliation.
The government has designated the Afghans as “persons with special merit” rather than refugees. This means the government will offer special favors to them equivalent to benefits extended to refugees, as it takes a long and complicated process for them to get refugee status via deliberations. We hope the Afghans will be able to settle here safely and get stable jobs.
What is worrisome is the simmering negative views on acceptance of the immigrants. A fierce dispute arose in 2018 when some 500 Yemenis landed on Jeju Island. Rep. Song Young-gil, chairman of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), expressed skepticism over the alleged U.S. plan to house Afghans in U.S. military bases here. Yet, he agreed to the plan to bring the Afghans who helped the Korean government to the country.
Views against benevolent policies toward refugees are pouring onto the Cheong Wa Dae website's petition board. Yet, despite such repercussions, Korean people should demonstrate their seasoned and mature membership in the international community by extending generosity and warm hospitality toward the Afghans.
Regrettably, Korea has a low rate of accepting refugees, the second-lowest among G20 countries. This is shameful in view of its status as one of the 10 major economies, though it joined an international treaty in 1992 for the first time as an Asian country and legislated a refugee-related law in 2012. Korea has already been recognized as an advanced country by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Korea should embrace the Afghans who escaped their home country, avoiding possible political suppression and brutal retaliation.