Presidential contenders urged to stop deporting undocumented foreigners

Members of human rights groups call on the government to stop its crackdown on undocumented migrants at a rally in Seoul, April 15. Newsis

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a powerful umbrella labor union with more than 1 million members, is calling for presidential contenders to discard the detain-and-deport policy currently used against undocumented foreign residents.

In its list of 10 requests for the nation’s next leader released Wednesday, the group said migrants, including those without visas to remain in Korea, should be embraced as members of society and that the next administration should offer a legal path for undocumented people to stay.

“The deportation policy must be stopped, and the government should implement a policy to grant residency to undocumented migrants,” the group said in the statement.

The organization also said all migrants should be given an opportunity to obtain permanent residency if they stay here for five years or longer, regardless of their legal status.

Their demands come as presidential hopefuls reveal their political visions and policy priorities ahead of the June 3 election.

The organization has long advocated protecting human rights for foreign workers. But it was only last year that it publicly began to call for the right to stay for undocumented migrants ― a move some saw as an attempt to broaden its liberal coalition.

Approximately 400,000 out of 2.6 million foreign residents in Korea are believed to hold no valid visa to remain in the country.

The union also urged presidential hopefuls to abolish the Employment Permit System (EMP), under which noncitizen employees are essentially not permitted to change jobs or employers, and introduce a new system that would guarantee them that freedom.

“The 2.6 million migrant workers have been left in a blind spot where their labor rights are not protected. Under the EMP and other work visas, they are prohibited from changing their workplaces and stuck in an extreme form of dominant-subordinate relationship,” the group said.

Moreover, the union called for the drastic improvement of living conditions for migrant workers.

“All temporary housing facilities, including containers, sandwich panel structures and plastic greenhouses, must be banned from being used (to house foreign workers),” it said. “All employers should be required to provide (appropriate) residential accommodation, and the criteria for such facilities should be strengthened.”

Under Korea’s Labor Standards Act, proper work hours, recess and holidays are guaranteed for all workers ― except for those engaged in certain farming and fishing work and other industrial sectors where many migrant workers are employed.

That section of the law has been abused by many employers and should be revoked, the group said.

A certain level of Korean language proficiency must be proven to obtain work visas for most industries. However, many workers are not fluent enough to understand the details of safety rules in their workplaces, which could lead to serious accidents.

The trade union also called for the introduction of a new system under which migrant workers would be able to learn safety rules in their native language.