Gov't to speed up refugee screening

Yemeni asylum seekers wait to get human rights counseling at Jeju city community center Friday. Yonhap

By Kim Hyun-bin

The Ministry of Justice said Friday that it will revise the Refugee Act to prevent fake asylum seekers from taking advantage of its system.

It also plans to speed up the refugee application process to quickly screen out people who do not meet the basic requirements.

“As part of the international community, we have a responsibility to protect refugees,” a justice ministry official said. “However, we have to reduce the public's misunderstanding. The Jeju government and other agencies are seeking to come up with countermeasures to better cope with the refugee issue.”

The move comes amid growing anti-refugee sentiment here over 500 Yemeni refugees who arrived on Jeju in the last couple of months. Critics say they were taking advantage of the island's no-visa program, which was implemented to boost tourism.

According to the ministry, the revision will be made on legal grounds to prevent abuse of the asylum system.

In addition, the ministry will increase the number of official who review the asylum procedures, and reduce the time of the process to protect “genuine” refugees, while screening out fake applicants.

Currently, there are only four officials, however, the ministry will hire six additional ones including two interpreters. They will immediately be dispatched to Jeju's immigration office.

The ministry aims to reduce its deliberation time from the current eight months to three months at the most. It will also establish a refugee review tribunal to speed up the appeals process.

Critics say some of the asylum seekers could have entered the country to seek jobs and other economic benefits. They have has raised concern that more arrivals could follow and their presence could increase crime and other social problems.

More than 500,000 people have signed a petition with the presidential office, calling for a revision or repeal of the Refugee Act. Some vowed to hold a protest this weekend.

Earlier this month, the government banned the Yemeni asylum seekers from leaving the island for other parts of country, and added Yemen to a list of countries where nationals cannot enter Jeju without a visa.

Since 1994, South Korea has been accepting refugee applications after signing the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1992.

Korea passed the Refugee Act in 2013, becoming the first Asian country to have its own refugee legislation.

However, only a few have gained refugee status.

Since 1994, some 40,407 people applied for asylum, but little over half have been processed and only 839 were granted refugee status.