Syrian asylum seekers face hard life in Korea
Help Syria's General-Director Abdul Wahab, third from left, in front of a truck loaded with medical supplies and other aid for displaced Syrians in Mersin, Turkey. Capture from Help Syria's Facebook page
Basic human rights are beyond reach for undocumented Syrians due to Korea's immigration laws and local bias against Muslims, activists say.
By Ko Dong-hwan
The Syrian civil war has displaced over 6 million civilians, two human right activists told the audience after a screening of “Last Men in Aleppo” ― a documentary about the war ― during the 2018 Korea Refugee Film Festival at Seoul Cinema on June 17.
The film, winner of the World Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival,?documents the human tragedy of the war that began in 2011.
Abdul Wahab Al Mohammad Agha, the general-director of Seoul-based humanitarian group Help Syria, and lawyer Lee il, from Advocate for Public Interest Law (APIL), were invited to the session to raise awareness about the war and some 1,300 Syrian asylum seekers in South Korea. The pair said they were concerned about Korea, where public recognition of refugees was lacking and hampered by racial biases and ineffective immigration laws.
Wahab and Lee, who have been working together for years helping Syrians in Korea, sang a Syrian song in a display of hopeful ties between the two countries.
Syrians suffer
Undocumented Syrians seeking asylum in Korea face a grueling wait because of problems with the refugee act and the cultural bias, the pair said. This means living is tough for the refugees and they lack basic human rights.
Although immigration authorities grant them humanitarian status, allowing them to stay in Korea, it has many restrictions that prevent them from achieving basic living standards.
Wahab and Lee said Syrians face an excruciatingly sluggish immigration office process to become refugees. Of 1,300 asylum seekers, only four have received the status.
“The rest of the Syrians are waiting for the process to be done that takes years of one extension after another,” Wahab told The Korea Times. “During those years, Syrians stay in Korea with humanitarian status but that puts many restrictions on basic living conditions like work permits and opportunities for study.”
Lee il from Advocates for Public Interest Law. With the help of Wahab, the lawyer specializing in refugee issues in Korea has been advocating for Syrian asylum seekers. Courtesy of APIL
In another setback, Syrians who need treatment face hefty hospital bills because the health and welfare ministry doesn't issue them medical insurance.
“The smallest bill I have seen charged to Syrians was 500,000 won ($448) but in many cases the bills are up to several million won,” Wahab said. “Red Cross, churches and Arabic communities offer financial help to them.”
Lee said the Korean government and the health ministry must propose a way to give the asylum seekers medical insurance while they wait for refugee status.
Syrians are also in a dire need of proper work permits to earn incomes. Those with humanitarian status can only find work in dirty, demeaning and dangerous (3D) industries like construction and car yards that trade used parts with Syria.
“One of the Syrians' goals is obtaining a legitimate work permit without being deported,” Lee said. “But like in prison, trapped in 3D industries, they cannot plan for the future.”
Immigration laws also ban Syrian asylum seekers from inviting family members over until their refugee status is granted. Even then, the process takes “too long” to see the loved ones, most of whom are in countries near Syria, according to Wahab. His family escaped from Syria to Turkey in 2017.
“It is not so different from the family separation issue at the Mexico-U.S. border,” Lee said. “The Korean government resorted to issuing humanitarian status to not allow Syrians to bring family members. It's paradoxical because Koreans experienced the pain of family separation during the 1950-53 Korean War that split the Korean Peninsula.”
The Korean government worries that if it granted refugee status to more Syrians, more family members would come, so it is trying to prevent that, according to Lee.
“The government, with respect to its international status regarding economic and humanitarian achievements, must plan how many refugees they should accept,” Lee said. “Such a primary plan isn't there. The authority simply tries to maintain the status quo.”
Another anti-Syrian threat is Koreans' negative perception of Islamic culture. Syrians often become a target of “Islamophobia,” being misunderstood by people, including police, as possible terrorists or misogynists, Lee said.
Islamophobia has shaded the minority group, discouraging them from establishing visible solidarity through a central community. Many Syrians remain isolated in separate neighborhoods, including Incheon, Dongducheon and Paju.
Lee and Wahab speak during the guest-visit session following the screening of "Last Men in Aleppo" at the 2018 Korea Refugee Film Festival at Seoul Cinema in Jung-gu, Seoul, June 17. Courtesy of APIL
State negligence
Syrians in Korea suffer mostly because the immigration authority isn't forthcoming about granting refugee status and instead wants to contain the rising number of asylum seekers, Lee and Wahab said. As a result, the authority isn't trying to improve the quality of Syrians' lives but rather block incoming Syrians.
“Because the Korean government doesn't issue visas to Syria, Syrian asylum seekers came through China, with stopovers in Korea, where they filed for refugee status with a transit visa,” Lee said. “Seeing too many Syrians coming using the method, the government killed that visa in 2016.
“The government doesn't see a war as enough cause to grant refugee status. But if Syrians informed the authority that they had left Syria because of political interests that made them not join the war, the government is required to accept them. Not wanting to do so, however, the government doesn't venture to such an extent.”
Civic help for Syrians draws support from various areas. Wahab, a lawyer from Raqqa who came to Seoul in 2009 on a student visa to study Korean law in Dongguk University's doctoral program, established Help Syria in 2013 with 110 Korean staffers to deliver supplies for displaced Syrians in Syria.
“We provide Syrians in Korea with legal help as they don't know Korean,” Wahab said. “I go with them to immigration offices and help with the paper work.”
The Refugee Film Festival also contributes to raising awareness about refugees in Korea. The fourth annual event was hosted by a network of 12 human rights groups for immigrants and APIL and sponsored by the International Organization for Migration.