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| Zay Min, center, co-representative of the Myanmar Migrant Worker Welfare Center, poses with his colleagues during the Minu Memorial Award Ceremony held in Seoul, Nov. 16. Korea Times photo by Lee Hyo-jin |
By Lee Hyo-jin
A local welfare center supporting migrant workers from Myanmar has won the Minu Memorial Award, recognized for its contribution to enhancing migrant worker's rights and helping them settle in Korea.
The Minu Memorial Award was established in 2020 by a group of supporters of Minod Moktan, the late migrant worker and activist from Nepal, to commemorate his death and remember his accomplishments. "Minu" was his Korean name.
The annual award ceremony took place at the Seoul Anglican Cathedral of St. Mary the Virgin and St. Nicholas, Wednesday.
The Myanmar Migrant Worker Welfare Center, based in Bupyeong, Incheon, opened in 2019. It is currently run by three co-representatives ― Zay Min, Thaung Tun, and Lee Ju-hee ― along with 32 regional representatives across the country.
"I am proud to say that our center was established by the Myanmarese people and is operated by the monthly membership fees of our 500 members, without receiving any help from outside," Zay Min told The Korea Times after the ceremony.
Min is a 64-year-old activist and currently the owner of a Burmese restaurant in Bupyeong, before which he had worked in local factories for over 10 years since he entered Korea in 2000.
"I feel honored and happy to become the second winner of the Minu Award. He is an icon for migrant workers' labor movement. This award will be a big motivation for our center," he said.
Due to the decade of experience at factories, Zay Min knows very well about the struggles often experienced by foreign national workers here, such as delayed payments, employers refusing to provide severance payments and extra payments for overtime work, all of which are violations of Korea's Labor Standards Act.
"In order to help the workers deal with such issues and fight for their labor rights, we needed an integrated, organized platform that everyone can reach out to easily," Zay Min explained.
The center is currently open not only to workers from Myanmar, but those from other foreign countries who are working in Korea.
The center operates every day from 10 a.m to 6 p.m, and provides face-to-face consultations about labor issues, as well as assistance via phone calls or messengers. It also provides its members with education on Korean language, culture and software used by Korean businesses so that they can easily adapt to the working environment.
"Our goal is not only to help the workers solve labor issues, but also to assist them to adapt to their workplace and become responsible members of Korean society."
The Myanmarese activist did not hesitate to voice support for the ongoing pro-democracy movements against the military coup in his home country.
"I hope the situation will be normalized soon. We are very thankful to the Korean people, who have shown continuous support. I also hope the Korean government will recognize the National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG), the administration set up by opponents of the military coup," he said.
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