By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Two top officials of an unauthorized migrants' union will be deported next week on illegal residence charges.
Members of the union claim the arrest was made to interrupt the establishment of the foreign labors' union that has acted against the government's labor policies. The government denies the allegation, saying it was a regular search.
The Ministry of Justice announced Wednesday it arrested Nepalese Torna Limbu, 42, head of the Migrants' Trade Union, and Bangladeshi vice president, 39, identified only by his surname ― Sabur, last Friday. The two, who have been illegally residing here for 16 and 9 years, respectively, were sent to the Cheongju Detention Center in North Chungcheong Province.
``They will be deported by the end of next week,'' Kim Young-geun of Korea Immigration Service told The Korea Times. ``They have lost their passports. We asked the Nepalese and Bangladeshi embassies in Seoul to re-issue their passports as soon as possible.''
According to the ministry, the two foreign labors have controlled the union since last November when their predecessors left the country by force. Since then, they have organized several protests along with civic groups to call on the government to revise some touchy labor issues such as giving legal residence status to all illegal migrant workers.
``We prioritize the arrest of illegal employment agents and illegal residents who overstay their visas. The foreign nationals in question have lived here for a long time. Also, they have actively participated in and organized anti-government protests,'' Kim said.
A street protest opposing the government's move was held in front of the government building in central Seoul, Wednesday, in the presence of more than 50 members from the migrants' union, Federation of Korean Trade Unions and some civic groups.
Lee Jung-won, spokeswoman for the foreign workers' union, said ``It is unjustifiable to take them away by force. We will press the government to release them immediately.''
``The police apparently intended to catch the two union heads to disband our union,'' Lee said.
The foreign labor rights group, which has failed to win legal status from the authorities, filed a suit against the government last year and the case is pending in the Supreme Court.
The crackdown on illegal migrants is likely to continue during the next three months since the government launched a special team this month to contain the soaring number of illegal immigrants here.
As of January, a total of 653,064 foreign laborers were living in Korea, including an estimated 202,817 illegal workers, the justice ministry said. The government estimates more than 20,000 illegal workers have resided here for a decade or longer.