Lawmakers push to end detention of kids at immigration facilities

A foreign child believed to be 3 years old, circled in red, is seen with adults at an immigration detention facility in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, in June 2023. Courtesy of law firm Duroo

Korean lawmakers on Thursday proposed amendments to the nation’s immigration laws that would fundamentally change how foreign minors are treated, barring their detention in immigration facilities.

The legislation seeks to end the Ministry of Justice’s long-standing practice of holding minors — often those facing deportation — in facilities officially designated as “protection centers.” For years, activists have argued that the policy violates both domestic and international human rights standards, prompting lawmakers to take action.

The bill was introduced by 20 lawmakers, including Rep. Seo Young-kyo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and Rep. Han Chang-min of the minor Social Democratic Party. It would revise the Immigration Control Act to explicitly prohibit the detention of foreign nationals under the age of 19.

According to justice ministry data submitted to Han's office, 886 foreign children have been held in government-run detention facilities over the past five and a half years.

The facilities — officially classified as "immigration protection centers" — house undocumented foreign nationals awaiting deportation. Korea operates three such centers, in Hwaseong in Gyeonggi Province, Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province and Yeosu in South Jeolla Province.

More than a dozen children were detained for longer than 100 days, the data showed. One of the most extreme cases involved a 1-year-old infant who spent 141 days in custody and an 18-year-old for 601 days.

"The ministry calls this 'protection,' but in reality it is detention," Han said during a press conference at the National Assembly. "It is shocking that such practices occur openly in a country that is recognized internationally as an advanced democracy."

Han noted that both the U.N. Human Rights Committee and Korea’s National Human Rights Commission have repeatedly urged the government to end the detention of migrant children.

"Yet the justice ministry has shown no willingness to reform and continues to rely on the forced detention of children, which constitutes a clear violation of their rights," he said. In some cases, the lawmaker added, children were confined despite authorities having no legal grounds for detention, simply because they accompanied their parents.

According to the lawmakers, the proposed amendment would ban all forms of detention for underage foreign nationals by immigration authorities. The bill would also require that the "best interests of the child" serve as the guiding principle whenever immigration laws are applied to minors.

If a parent is detained, officials may grant the parent conditional release to ensure that the child can remain in a safe environment. Children separated from their parents would become eligible for support under Korea’s existing child welfare programs, including placement in state-run child care facilities.

Lee Jong-chan, who heads the Migrants and Refugees Committee at the Korean Bar Association, urged the National Assembly to act swiftly for the bill's legislation.

"With no effort to seek alternatives, authorities have often detained children alongside their parents when there was no one else to care for them. Detaining a child, whether due to the parents' status or their own, is a clear act of abuse," Lee said.

The justice ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the proposed amendment.