Is your curry ethical?

Regulation leaves E-7 visa holders vulnerable

E-7 visa holders exploited by employers

By Choi Ha-young

A 37-year-old Bangladeshi chef, who arrived in Seoul in December 2010, never explored the city outside of Itaewon where the Indian restaurant he used to work at was located. He doesn’t speak Korean at all, as he had no Korean friends to communicate with there.

The owner of the restaurant, surnamed Kim, seized his passport and alien registration certificate. “It was very bad,” he kept saying during a recent interview with The Korea Times.

With his coworker also from Bangladesh, he worked at the restaurant from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. every day, except two holidays each month. Their salary was 70,000 taka ($893) from last year. The first month’s salary was only 30,000 taka.

Surprisingly, neither are illegal aliens who often are subject to unfair treatment; they have an E-7 visa status which is issued to “experts” in specific areas including interpreters, chefs and designers. To get this, the two chefs had to prove they had more than 10 years experience of Indian cooking.

However, there is no government department in charge of protecting skilled workers. The Korea Immigration Service under the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) issues the visa, but doesn’t supervise each workplace afterward. There were 19,420 people holding the visa as of August.

A Bangladeshi chef, second from right, poses with athletes at an international sports competition in Korea where he cooked halal food. / Courtesy of the chef

The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) said people with E-7 status were not subject to its jurisdiction.

“We deal with E-9 visa holders, who work in the construction, agriculture and services industries, but E-7 is under the Ministry of Justice,” said Jeong Hyung-woo, a spokesman for the labor ministry. “We think we should supervise all kinds of foreign labor, but our request was not accepted.”

Hug Korea under the Human Resources Development Service, a state-run agency offering counseling for foreign workers, said it deals with E-9 problems only.

Loopholes

When inviting foreign workers on an E-7 visa, the employer should submit documents such as tax records and written employment contracts. When renewing the visa, the employer should also show the workers’ bank accounts with payment records.

This is where irregularities occur.

“The restaurant owner wrote two contracts, one in Korean and one in Bengali,” said lawyer Choi Mi-sook, who is representing the Bangladeshi chefs. The Korean contract promises a monthly salary of 1.5 million won ($1,359) which is the minimum wage for E-7 holders. The bank account record shows the owner paid approximate 1.5 million won a month.

However, the owner managed the chefs’ accounts with fabricated stamps.

“The surveillance camera at a bank on June 1 showed that the owner withdrew money from the chefs’ bank accounts,” Choi said. The owner sent only around 980,000 won to the chefs’ family in Bangladesh — the amount stated in the Bengali contract.

The two chefs had no chance to meet government officials to reveal this “slavery life,” they said.

“Workers’ representatives or employers can apply for the visa extension, so the foreign workers don’t need to visit the immigration office,” a justice ministry official said.

Prevalent exploitation

“Commonly, Indian chefs in Korea receive around 1.1 million to 1.3 million won, with one or two days off a month,” Choi said. This year’s minimum monthly salary is 1.26 million won, and maximum working time is eight hours a day.

Choi is now dealing with five similar cases, four in Itaewon and one in Busan. Two years ago, another Indian restaurant hired a chef, and paid only 1 million won by charging 500,000 won for dormitory and food. The victims are usually from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Choi said.

The law prevents workers from changing workplaces, which worsens the exploitation.

“When I complained, the owner told me to go back to Bangladesh,” the chef said.

According to the immigration regulation, E-7 visa holders can’t move to another workplace without their employer’s approval. If fired, they should go back home. E-9 holders can change their workplace a maximum of three times.

“If workers’ wages are delayed or human rights violations happen, they should be allowed to change their workplace,” said lawyer Park Young-ah from Gong Gam, a human rights law foundation. “While people enjoy Indian food, customers should be aware of the circumstances under which their food is cooked,” Park said.