Foreign residents left behind in COVID-19 information: study

Migrants and Korean activists protest near Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, urging local governments to pay COVID-19 relief funds to foreign residents, in this May 7 photo. Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

Although the number of COVID-19 infections among foreign residents here has been rising nationwide, a study shows that they have had difficulty accessing virus tests due to a lack of information on testing and quarantine measures as well as difficulty communicating in Korean.

The research, conducted at the request of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) by Solidarity with Migrants, a human rights group for migrant workers, revealed foreigners have been more vulnerable to the pandemic than locals.

According to the survey of 1,055 foreign residents, 10.7 percent, or 113 said they did not know that they could receive free treatment if infected with COVID-19 regardless of their nationality or status of residence.

This showed that although the government has said even unregistered foreigners can get COVID-19 tests and treatment without having their visa status checked, relevant policies have not been properly promoted among foreign nationals.

Only 46.4 percent, or 490 of respondents, said they got information about the virus and quarantine measures through mobile text messages sent by government organizations, while 37.7 percent, or 398, said they obtained such information from people of the same nationality on social media.

“Such information that migrants obtain through social media could be mistranslated and thus contain inaccurate information, so the quarantine authorities should translate information related to COVID-19 into various languages and distribute it to foreign residents,” the research paper said.

As to discrimination they have suffered regarding the coronavirus, 17.9 percent said they “were unable to purchase face masks when the government introduced its public distribution system last year because they were foreigners.”

Another 16.7 percent said they were restricted from leaving their dormitories or workplaces for the purpose of avoiding infection; 9.7 percent said they were refused entry to cafes or restaurants because they were foreigners; and 5.5 percent said they had trouble getting coronavirus-related information from public health centers due to a lack of interpretation services.