Migrant workers in rural areas find 'Korean dream' out of reach

Migrant workers work at a lettuce farm in Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province, in January. / Korea Times file

Nation’s agriculture relies on their hands, but they suffer severe abuse

By Kim Se-jeong

Botum is a migrant worker from Cambodia. Arriving in Korea in 2016, she worked at a strawberry farm in South Chungcheong Province.

Her day usually started at 6 a.m. and finished around 10 p.m. with two hours for a meal break _ during the harvest season, she didn’t even get that. When things are down, she is transported to other farms and does other random work.

Her monthly wage was 1.4 million won ($1,300). It was small by Korean standards but was five times what people back home normally receive. She spared 100,000 won for herself and sent the rest to her family _ mother, husband and a six-year-old son.

In January, however, Botum left the farm.

“I had to stay for my family, but I had to leave because I was going to die because it was too cold,” Botum, who didn’t disclose her full name, told the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, during a recent interview.

What her employer offered for housing was a plastic greenhouse on the strawberry farm. The ceiling of the greenhouse was broken, exposing her and her household belongings to the cold. She slept in a small container inside the greenhouse heated by an electric heater but it broke this winter and the employer refused to repair it, she said.

Botum is among 56,000 migrant workers from 16 countries currently working in Korea on E9 and E10 visas. Among them, more than 35,000 are working at farms and fishing villages, filling the labor gap left by the young who left the rural areas for cities.

“From perilla leaves to mackerel, no agricultural products arrive on the dinner table without going through migrant workers’ hands,” Murayama Ippei from Solidarity with Migrants, a Busan-based NGO advocating for the rights of migrant workers.

With the E9 and E10 visa, they can stay up to four years and 10 months in total _ the visa expires after three years, upon which they can get a one year and 10 months extension.

Many arrive in Korea with the so-called “Korean dream” of returning home with a considerable fortune to make their families’ lives better. But they often find that dream is distant, struggling hard to get paid the promised amount on time.

Besides payment delinquency, the workers suffer racial discrimination, inadequate working environments and abusive behavior from the employers.

Rights activists said abuse against migrant workers is much more commonplace at farms and fishing villages than factories and construction sites.

The workers are allowed to change their employment five times during their stay but the trick is that they can only do so with the employers’ consent.

People like Botum who leave their jobs without the employers’ consent go undocumented immediately.

For female workers, sexual harassment is another issue to deal with.

Last October, one female Thai migrant worker, undocumented, was murdered by her employer after his unsuccessful rape attempt.

A 2016 study on sexual harassment among migrant workers showed 48 percent of migrant women either experienced harassment herself or witnessed the harassment.

Among those who were harassed, 90 percent answered they didn’t reach out for help. Reasons for silence were a lack of language proficiency and fear of losing their jobs.

“The recent #MeToo movement shows it’s difficult for Korean women to speak up about sexual harassment. Not to mention the migrant workers,” Murayama said.

Activists called on the government to be more serious when they react to complaints.

“When inspectors examine cases, they tend to listen to and believe in the employers, not the employees,” said Murayama.

Last week, the government announced it would improve working and living conditions for the workers, particularly vowing to removing employers offering greenhouses for living.

“It’s good that the government acted to tackle the poor living conditions of the workers, but there are still many issues to be addressed,” the activist said adding that lower than minimum wages for the workers is one.

“With the rise of the minimum wage this year, the employers began charging for employees’ accommodation. What’s more nonsensical is that the government recommended employers do so as a cost-saving measure.”

Murayama noted the root cause of the ordeals facing the migrant workers is a lack of understanding among Koreans.

“Many Koreans consider themselves superior and treat them as if they are offering a huge favor to them. But, that’s not true. Without them, Korea’s agriculture would stop. The government acknowledged this and opened its labor market to foreigners, but people don’t seem to understand this.”